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Beasts of Prey or Rational Animals? Private Governance in Brazil's Jogo do Bicho

Author

Listed:
  • Freire, Danilo

    (Brown University)

Abstract

This article presents a rational choice account of Brazil's jogo do bicho ('animal game'), possibly the largest illegal lottery game in the world. In over 120 years, the jogo do bicho has grown from a local raffle to a multimillion-dollar business, and the game has played a major role in Brazil's cultural and political life. My analysis of the jogo do bicho has three goals. First, I examine the mechanisms that fostered the lottery's notable growth outside the boundaries of Brazilian law. Second, I investigate how the animal game financiers combine costly signals and selective incentives to induce cooperation from members of the community. Lastly, I discuss the relationship between the lottery sponsors and Brazilian representatives, particularly how the bicheiros exploit the fragmentation of Brazil's political system to advance their long-term interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Freire, Danilo, 2017. "Beasts of Prey or Rational Animals? Private Governance in Brazil's Jogo do Bicho," SocArXiv se2jr, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:se2jr
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/se2jr
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Brazil; criminal organisations; gambling; jogo do bicho; private governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal
    • Z00 - Other Special Topics - - General - - - General

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