IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/albaec/2011_018.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effect of Gambling on Health: Evidence from Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Humphreys, Brad

    (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

  • Nyman, John

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Ruseski, Jane

    (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

Abstract

The relationship between gambling and health has important economic and public policy implications. We develop causal evidence about the relationship between recreational gambling and health using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) cycles 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1. Recreational gamblers are gamblers who are classifi ed as "non-problem" gamblers according to the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI). Gambling is treated as an endogenous regressor in the health equations. The results of instrumental variable and bivariate probit models of participation in gambling and health outcomes indicate that recreational gambling has either no or a negative impact on the probability of having certain chronic conditions. These results diff er from studies that find a positive association between problem gambling and adverse health outcomes. Exogeneity tests suggest that gambling is endogenous; hence, empirical methods that address endogeneity are necessary to develop causal evidence of a relationship between gambling and health.

Suggested Citation

  • Humphreys, Brad & Nyman, John & Ruseski, Jane, 2011. "The Effect of Gambling on Health: Evidence from Canada," Working Papers 2011-18, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2011_018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~econwps/2011/wp2011-18.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    2. Smith, Richard J & Blundell, Richard W, 1986. "An Exogeneity Test for a Simultaneous Equation Tobit Model with an Application to Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 679-685, May.
    3. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    4. Huang, Haifang & Humphreys, Brad R., 2012. "Sports participation and happiness: Evidence from US microdata," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 776-793.
    5. Chiara Monfardini & Rosalba Radice, 2008. "Testing Exogeneity in the Bivariate Probit Model: A Monte Carlo Study," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(2), pages 271-282, April.
    6. Balia, Silvia & Jones, Andrew M., 2008. "Mortality, lifestyle and socio-economic status," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-26, January.
    7. Andrew M. Jones, 2012. "health econometrics," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics,, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Jaeun Shin & Sangho Moon, 2007. "Do Hmo Plans Reduce Health Care Expenditure In The Private Sector?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(1), pages 82-99, January.
    9. Lindrooth, Richard C. & Weisbrod, Burton A., 2007. "Do religious nonprofit and for-profit organizations respond differently to financial incentives? The hospice industry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 342-357, March.
    10. Cunningham-Williams, R.M. & Cottler, L.B. & Compton III, W.M. & Spitznagel, E.L., 1998. "Taking chances: Problem gamblers and mental health disorders - Results from the St. Louis epidemiologic catchment area study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(7), pages 1093-1095.
    11. Cunningham-Williams, R.M. & Cottler, L.B. & Compton III, W.M. & Spitznagel, E.L., 1998. "Erratum: Taking chances: Problem gamblers and mental health disorders - Results from the St. Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study (American Journal of Public Health (1998) 88 (1093-1096))," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(9), pages 1407-1407.
    12. Jeff DeSimone, 2002. "Illegal Drug Use and Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 952-977, October.
    13. Edward C. Norton & Courtney Harold Van Houtven, 2006. "Inter-vivos Transfers and Exchange," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 157-172, July.
    14. Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Brad R. Humphreys (ed.), 2011. "The Economics of Sport, Health and Happiness," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14306.
    15. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    16. Nyman, John A. & Welte, John W. & Dowd, Bryan E., 2008. "Something for nothing: A model of gambling behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2492-2504, December.
    17. Milton Friedman & L. J. Savage, 1948. "The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 279-279.
    18. Conlisk, John, 1993. "The Utility of Gambling," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 255-275, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. A. Bussu & C. Detotto, 2014. "Understanding the relationship between gambling and other addictive behaviors," Working Paper CRENoS 201403, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    2. Legendre, Nicolas & Nitani, Miwako & Riding, Allan, 2021. "Are franchises really more viable? Evidence from loan defaults," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 23-33.
    3. Anna Bussu & Claudio Detotto, 2015. "The bidirectional relationship between gambling and addictive substances," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 285-308, August.
    4. Christian Martín García, 2016. "Economía del deporte: una revisión sobre el Estudio de la participación en actividades físicas y deportivas," Ensayos de Política Económica, Departamento de Investigación Francisco Valsecchi, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina., vol. 2(4), pages 133-148, Octubre.
    5. David Forrest, 2013. "An Economic And Social Review Of Gambling In Great Britain," Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, University of Buckingham Press, vol. 7(3), pages 1-33.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    2. Anjani Kumar & Ashok K. Mishra & Sunil Saroj & Vinay K. Sonkar & Ganesh Thapa & Pramod K. Joshi, 2020. "Food safety measures and food security of smallholder dairy farmers: Empirical evidence from Bihar, India," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 363-384, June.
    3. Miller, Cristina D. M. & Mishra, Ashok K., 2022. "Health Insurance Coverage, Government Payments, and Labor Allocation," IZA Discussion Papers 15262, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Brad R. Humphreys & John A. Nyman & Jane E. Ruseski, 2016. "The Effect of Recreational Gambling on Regional Health Outcomes: Evidence from Canadian Provinces," Working Papers 16-28, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    5. Mishra, Ashok K. & Villacis, Alexis H. & Miller, Cristina D. M., 2022. "Market Facilitation Program Payments, Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Coverage and Off-Farm Employment," IZA Discussion Papers 15834, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Hai Fang & John Rizzo, 2010. "Has the influence of managed care waned? Evidence from the market for physician services," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 85-103, March.
    7. Brad R. Humphreys & John A. Nyman & Jane E. Ruseski, 2021. "The Effect of Recreational Gambling on Health and Well-Being," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 29-75, January.
    8. Gregory, Christian & Deb, Partha, 2016. "Who Benefits Most from SNAP?," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236648, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Luke Lunhua Mao & James J Zhang & Daniel P Connaughton, 2015. "Determinants of Demand for Sports Lottery: Insights from a Multilevel Model," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(8), pages 973-987, August.
    10. Francesca Cornelli & Zbigniew Kominek & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2013. "Monitoring Managers: Does It Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(2), pages 431-481, April.
    11. Martijn J. Burger & Martijn Hendriks & Emma Pleeging & Jan C. Ours, 2020. "The joy of lottery play: evidence from a field experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(4), pages 1235-1256, December.
    12. Humphreys, Brad & Maresova, Katerina & Ruseski, Jane, 2012. "Institutional Factors, Sport Policy, and Individual Sport Participation: An International Comparison," Working Papers 2012-1, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    13. Tauchmann, Harald & Göhlmann, Silja & Requate, Till & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2007. "Tobacco and Alcohol: Complements or Substitutes? – A Structural Model Approach," Ruhr Economic Papers 34, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Mishra, Ashok K. & Harris, Michael & Bampasidou, Maria, 2018. "Health Insurance Coverage and Labor Allocation of Beginning Farm Operator Households," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274172, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Yi Fan & Diana M. Weinhold, 2022. "Urban noise, sleep disruption and health," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(50), pages 5782-5799, October.
    16. Anup Agrawal & Tareque Nasser, 2019. "Blockholders on Boards and CEO Compensation, Turnover and Firm Valuation," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(03), pages 1-67, September.
    17. repec:zbw:rwirep:0034 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Yörük, BarIs K., 2009. "How responsive are charitable donors to requests to give?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(9-10), pages 1111-1117, October.
    19. Stefan Meyer, 2016. "Obesity and Health-Care Costs in Switzerland: Dealing with Endogeneity in Non-Linear Regression Models," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 152(3), pages 243-286, July.
    20. Liliana Andriano & Christiaan W. S. Monden, 2019. "The Causal Effect of Maternal Education on Child Mortality: Evidence From a Quasi-Experiment in Malawi and Uganda," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1765-1790, October.
    21. Guilhem Bascle, 2008. "Controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research," Post-Print hal-00576795, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    health; government policy; sports; gambling; recreation; tourism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2011_018. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joseph Marchand (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deualca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.