Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

Do Casinos Really Cause Crime?

by

*Douglas M. Walker* is an associate professor of economics at the College of Charleston, in Charleston, SC. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Auburn University in 1998. Prior to coming to the College of Charleston, he taught at Auburn, Louisiana Sta

Abstract

This paper discusses the recent study by Grinols and Mustard (2006), which examines the relationship between casinos and county-level crime in the U.S. The authors conclude that casinos cause a significant amount of crime. However, there are a number of problems with their analysis. The most serious problem is that their paper uses a crime rate that excludes the visiting population at risk, thereby overstating the crime rate in casino counties. Second, the crime data used are potentially inaccurate. Third, the results may suffer from a bias caused by counties self-selecting into the “casino county” category. Fourth, the dummy variables used to account for casinos do not allow the authors to isolate the crime effect caused by casinos. Finally, the authors make conclusions that are not supported by their data, analysis, and results.

in Comments

Download
Volume (Issue)
5(1)
Pages
4-20
Published
JEL classification
L83
Keywords
casinos, crime
Article PDF Downloads
8,056 (updated 31 Dec 2011)

Discuss this article!