THE IMPACT OF WEALTH AND POVERTY ON GAMBLING EXPENDITURE IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

The gambling expenditure in the United States have been analyzed for the timespan from 1965 to 2016. The effects of income, misery index, electricity consumption, population growth on gambling expenditure were analyzed through an ARDL model. Method that deals well with the autoregressive nature of the phenomenon. The results support that gross domestic product have an impact on gambling expenditure in both the short- and long-run. While the misery index (or its decomposition) only has an effect in the long-run. The consumption of electricity that was used as proxy for new forms of gambling is related to gambling expenses. It suggests that new forms of gambling can be a risk to the gaming industry in long-run. Our results show the economic outlook on the phenomenon of gambling. It presents useful information to public policy makers and the gambling industry. In addition to interacting with the literature of several areas on the phenomenon of gambling.