Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Normative Analysis Of Gambling Tax Policy, Kahlil S. Philander

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This article surveys the application of normative tax theory to gambling tax policy. The analysis suggests that fixed license based taxes may be preferable to taxes on gross gaming revenue. Where output based taxes are used, the types of gambling whose demand is more price sensitive, and the types that have positive links to other industries, should be taxed at comparatively lower rates. Sin-based taxes are noted to increase economic welfare, but only when applied with a rate commensurate to harm that is external to the gambler and the operator. Finally, inter-jurisdictional competition is identified as an important consideration in …

The Impact Of The Great Recession On Nevada’S Latino Community, John P. Tuman, David F. Damore, Maria J.F. Agreda

Brookings Mountain West Publications

The emergence of the Great Recession of 2008 had a profound impact in Nevada. The economic downturn generated high unemployment levels and led to turbulence in many sectors, particularly residential home construction and the hospitality industry. In the wake of the crisis, median home prices in Nevada plunged, while the residential foreclosure rate increased and remains one of the highest rates in the country. By 2009, it was evident that a tightening of commercial bank lending for new mortgages, combined with the impact of rising joblessness and plunging housing values, was hampering recovery efforts in the housing sector and Nevada’s …

Mountain Monitor - 3rd Quarter 2013, Kenan Fikri, Mark Muro

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

The quarter’s Mountain Monitor marks the four-year anniversary of Brookings Mountain West's quarterly tracking of the uneven pace of recovery across the major metro areas of the Intermountain West and it finds that, although the region continues to outperform the national economy the rate of recovery slowed moderately in the region’s metro areas.

As a group, Mountain region metro areas advanced on all four indicators of economic recovery tracked by the Monitor—employment, output, unemployment, and house prices—but their progress was more restrained in the third quarter of 2013 than it was in the second.

Beneath the regional headline of moderating …

The International Monetary Fund, Power Politics, And The Changing Political Economy Of The Twenty First Century, Eduardo Flores

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The governance of the global economy is in a constant state of change. Since the creation of the Bretton Woods system, the International Monetary Fund has had to pursue a series of reforms to meet the changing demands of the international monetary system. At times, the Fund's institutional design has been adjusted to reflect the rise and decline in economic fortunes of member states. Other times the Fund has been resistant to change. However, the original design has proved to be durable and has overcome a number of historical challenges. Currently, two realities are challenging the institutional design of the …

Is College A Good Investment?: An Economic And Policy Analysis, Beth Akers

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture provides a theoretical framework for thinking about the financial returns on the investment in higher education degrees and will present the latest empirical finding on this question. The discussion will touch on the topics of rapid tuition inflation, for-profit colleges, student loan debt, and the potential for a fiscal crisis in the market for student loans.

Identifying And Describing The Network Of Health, Education, And Social Service Non-Profit Organizations In Southern Nevada, Shannon M. Monnat, Anna Smedley

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

Many of the economic, social, and demographic issues facing southern Nevada are dynamic and interrelated, requiring a coordinated approach on the part of southern Nevada’s non‐profit community. The coordination of services, skills, and talents enables community needs to be addressed in ways that exceed the scope and capacity of any single organization. With the increasing desire of funding organizations to support collaborative efforts, maintaining sustainable connections between southern Nevada’s non‐profit organizations is needed now more than ever before.

This is the first comprehensive study of southern Nevada’s health, education, and social service non‐profit network. Via a web‐based survey of nearly …

Concentration On The Las Vegas Strip: An Exploration Of The Impacts, David G. Schwartz

Library Faculty Publications

Looking at two snapshots, albeit from a distance, gives an overview of how concentrated the gaming industry in Nevada has become:

• In 1998, 23 publicly held corporations owned 65 casinos that grossed more than $12 million that year from gaming. These casinos grossed 75.48% of the state’s total gaming revenue that fiscal year.

• In 2012, 22 publicly held corporations owned 70 casinos that grossed more than $12 million that year from gambling, pulling in 78.0% of that state’s total gaming revenue that fiscal year.

Attesting To Unique Attractions: The Significance Of The President's Commission On Organized Crime (1984-1986) Gambling Hearings, David G. Schwartz

Library Faculty Publications

The federal government has had a curious relationship with gambling. For much of its history, the national public policy towards gambling was simple: prohibition, despite the audacity of a few laggard states in experimenting with legalization schemes. Towards the end of the twentieth century, however, the national policy shifted, at first to tolerance of legal gambling to endorsement of it. The five primary federal studies of gambling conducted in the twentieth century—the Kefauver Committee (1950–2), the President’s Crime Commission (1967), the Commission to Review the National Policy on Gambling (1974–6), the President’s Commission on Organized Crime (1984–6), and the National …

The Hidden Stem Economy: The Surprising Diversity Of Jobs Requiring Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Knowledge, Jonathan Rothwell

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Policy and businesses leaders have argued that there is a shortage of highly educated workers in professional occupations related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Critics have countered that Ph.D scientists often face a difficult academic labor market and do not necessarily earn higher wages than other professionals. Yet, both sides of the STEM debate have been relying on an ill-defined definition of STEM work. Using a detailed survey of worker knowledge requirements, this research project redefines STEM jobs based on the level of knowledge required in STEM fields to perform occupations. The results uncover two facts previously unrecognized …

By Choice Or By Chance? Why Is Nevada Last In Federal Funding And What Can Be Done About It?, Tracy M. Gordon

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The federal government spends more than $600 billion or 17 percent of its budget each year on grants to states and localities. Nevada consistently ranks at the bottom among states in its allocation of federal dollars per capita. This presentation will examine the reasons for Nevada’s “donor state” status including state demographics, federal funding formulas, and state policy decisions. It will focus especially on Medicaid, the largest federal grant program, and Governor Brian Sandoval’s recent decision to participate in the program expansion scheduled for 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. The presentation will also discuss reasons for intergovernmental grants and …

Mountain Monitor - 2nd Quarter 2013, Kenan Fikri, Mark Muro

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

Economic recovery progressed steadily across the metropolitan Mountain West in the second quarter of 2013. Many of the region’s major metro areas counted among the strongest economic performers nationally, but output growth slowed over the quarter and the region‘s unemployment recovery looked to be stagnating. Moderate job growth and a fast and accelerating housing recovery buoyed the Mountain West economy in the second quarter.

Can State And Local Revenue And Expenditure Enhance Economic Growth? A Cross-State Panel Study Of Fiscal Activity, Christopher Arthur Clarke

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The slow economic recovery since the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession requires state and local governments to continue to make difficult decisions concerning which taxes to raise and which expenditures to decrease in order to maintain a balanced budget. As expenditures usually raise economic growth and taxes generally hinder it, seeking the optimum combination of tax structures and expenditure options is necessary to encourage prosperity in a state. In this paper I study the effects of various expenditures and revenue combinations on growth in state personal income from 1977-2010 for 49 states and the District of Columbia. I find …

On The Merits Of The Resource Curse Theory: Resource Rents And Corruption, David Paul Snyder

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the breakup of the colonial empires following World War II, many newly independent states have embarked on a path of seeking political and economic development. Scholars studying this phenomenon soon became aware of an interesting puzzle. Why do the economies that have substantial natural resource endowments at their disposal tend to develop at a slower rate than economies that are less endowed with natural resources? From this question, the resource curse theory was derived. The resource curse theory has three main claims. The first claim is that resource rich economies grow at a slower rate than non-resource rich economies. …

Assessing Revenue Managers' Level Of Trust In Information Systems: An Exploratory Study Of Las Vegas Casino Resorts, Landon Taylor Shores

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined revenue managers' level of trust in their revenue management system (RMS) at Las Vegas casino resorts. The study utilized an e-mail interview to measure revenue managers' attitudes about their RMS's degree of reliability and dependability, the degree to which they trust their RMS's pricing recommendations, and if a revenue manager's level of trust in technology had any effect on their likelihood of trusting their RMS.

The study invited 11 property and corporate revenue managers from Las Vegas casino resorts to participate in an e-mail interview, with nine revenue managers agreeing to participate. The main findings of the …

Mountain Monitor-1st Quarter 2013, Kenan Fikri, Mark Muro

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

Economic recovery gained strength across the major metro areas of the Mountain West in the first quarter of 2013. Multiple metro areas achieved long-awaited full employment recoveries in the first quarter and regional production surpassed pre-recession levels of output for the first time. The region’s strong housing rebound continued to be a boon. Additionally, a special supplement to the Monitor shows that the healthcare sector has been an outsized contributor to recovery throughout the region. Despite progress on multiple fronts, though, many Mountain metro areas remain scarred with high unemployment rates, severely depressed house prices, and daunting jobs deficits.

Session 4-2-E: The Effects Of Gaming Tax/Retention Rate On Casino Performance, Will E. Cummings

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Overview

Gaming Taxes affect investors in and operators of casinos

... and therefore casino performance

Gravity Models in general High variance from classical ideal

Variance tells us something about the impact of gaming tax rates

Session 4-1-C: Social Gaming: Problems, Policies And Predictions, Keith Whyte

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Discusses key issues with social gaming.

Session 4-1-B: Casino Legalization As An Evolutionary Game -- Who Will Be The Next?, Miao He

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Introduction

For the community/governor who has a strong preposition to casino gaming (e.g., gambler, religious group), his/her motivation to participate/accept casino legalization is

∆P_AE_A+t_A>c_î and ∆P_B(R_B+E_B)+t_B>c_Ĵ

What’s the motivation for the other community/governors who are neutral to casino gaming?

How the casino legalization process evolved and finally reached the equilibrium state?

Session 4-1-D: The Ant And The Grasshopper: Western Casino Operators In Macau And Singapore, Sudhir Kale

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Objectives

Understand the impact of market conditions and managerial orientation on employee satisfaction, organizational identification, and service quality in Macau/ Singapore Casino Industry.

Highlight long-term adverse impact of poor service quality on market share and profitability.

Provide guidelines for action.

Session 3-4-B: Impacts Of The Structure Of The Casino Industry, William N. Thompson, Catherine Prentice

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

This paper looks at impacts of the structures of casino industries in 13 American states venues. The legalization of casinos has been a major policy issue in scores of national and sub-national venues over the past 60 years. Among the critical issues in the legalization process has been the subject of whether casino establishments should be authorized as singular, that is, monopoly, entities in a specific location (city, state, or nation) much as public utilities, or they should be licensed in an open market free competitive manner. A middle ground approach find venues allowing a limited number of licenses, ergo, …

Session 3-4-B: Evaluating The Performance Of Macao’S Gaming Industry, Day-Yang Liu

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The purpose of research

The stringently competitive nature of the casino entertainment market in the Macao necessitates that managers fully utilize knowledge expertise to increase efficiency in operations management.

Therefore, this study employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to estimate the efficiency and productivity of the casino entertainment industry in Macao.

Session 3-3-F: Measuring The Price Of Discrimination With Data On Poker Games, Ingo Fiedler

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Introduction

Economic theory suggests that discrimination is price sensitive and money an equalizer

This means that discrimination decreases the higher the private costs for the discriminator

Economic reasoning: Discrimination comes at a price for the discriminator

• Example: an employer discriminates against potential employees with a non-white skin tone and thus may miss the best employees who then work for a competitor.
• Imperfect competition leads to rents and rents can be used to discriminate and they can be discrimination in itself. [Jomo, 2003].
• Competition reduces discrimination

Session 3-2-B: Paspa: An Unconstitutional Patent, Kevin P. Braig

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) is a patent monopoly because the statute (A) imitates the Crown’s practice of allocating markets by patent; (B) functions like a patent issued under the United States Patent Code; and (C) imposes monopoly-like costs upon the public. The Constitution’s Patent Clause is a brilliant public financing scheme and unique in that it is the only grant of power to Congress in the Constitution that begins with a specific prescription of proper legislative purpose. Congress cannot grant just any person a patent monopoly for any purpose. Rather, Congress can grant a patent monopoly …

Session 3-1-E: Modeling Change In The Profile Of The Atlantic City Visitor, Brian J. Tyrrell, Israel Posner Ph.D.

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The Atlantic City casino market has faced increasing competition over the past decade, particularly since the introduction of Pennsylvania gaming in 2006. In response to this increased competition, the State of New Jersey, through legislation, created a public private partnership to both redevelop parts of the city and devote significant marketing dollars into shaping the image of the city. The private side of that partnership, the Atlantic City Alliance (ACA), found in their earliest consumer research that Atlantic City’s image as a gaming destination was well established, but that the city was less known for the retail, entertainment and restaurants …

Session 3-1-B: Online Gambling And Money Laundering, Ingo Fiedler

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Introduction

Money laundering is the process by which criminals attempt to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of their ill-gotten gains, so as to make it possible to invest or consume the proceeds of crime (Masciandaro1999)

Money laundering (Unger, 2007):

• distorts prices, consumption, saving and investment rates;
• increases the volatility of import/export levels, the demand for money, interest and exchange rates, as well as the availability of credit;
• threatens the solvability and liquidity, as well as the reputation and profitability of the financial sector;
• Endangers the continuance of foreign direct investment (FDI)
• Acts as a multiplier …

Session 2-4-E: Financial Evaluation Commonalities And Distinctions Expressed By 10-Ks With Two Libertarian Hospitality Segments: Casino Gaming And Gentlemen’S Clubs, David J. Paster

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Premise

Libertarian hospitality ventures are significantly and fundamentally different than current common hospitality fields such as lodging and restaurants due to their distinct business model composition.

Session 2-4-B: Intellectual Capital And The Gaming Industry, Mikael B. Ahlgren

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Description of what intellectual capital is.

Session 2-4-B: The Boomerang Effect, Jonathan Galaviz

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Today's Talk:

1. Ideas, not politics

2. Strategic outlook

3. Macro Focused

Session 2-4-B: Las Vegas: The Houston Of The Gaming Industry?, Bo J. Bernhard

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Conclusions

Las Vegas is and must become an intellectual capital of the global gaming industry.

Internet gaming: new threats, new opportunities

Session 2-3-E: An Analysis Of Ahp On Investment Project Evaluation: A Case Study Of Matsu Integrated Resort, Day-Yang Liu

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Background

Governments are increasingly liberalizing gambling in hope of reaping economic and developmental benefits.

The business models of gambling industry are developing toward the concept of large, integrated resort-casino.

The referendum of allowing casino gaming business in Matsu was passed on July 7th, 2012.

It is expected to improve transportation facilities, boost local economy and tourism.

This gives Matsu the opportunity to build the first integrated resort-casino in the Taiwan area.