Does gambling expenditure have any effect on crime?

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Economics
• Public Health

Background:

• Australia has the highest per capita gambling expenditure globally.
• Electronic gaming machines (EGMs) constitute nearly 90% of this expenditure.
• Previous research lacked longitudinal analysis on gambling expenditure and crime.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a rigorous longitudinal analysis of the relationship between gambling expenditure and crime.
• To estimate the short- and long-run associations between gambling expenditure and crime rates.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal analysis utilizing panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modeling.
• Data collected on monthly gross EGM expenditure profit and monthly crime rates (assault, burglary, vehicle theft, fraud) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
• Analysis covered the period from December 2015 to January 2020.

Main Results:

• A 10% increase in EGM expenditure was associated with significant annual increases in various crimes.
• Specific increases included: 7.4% in assaults, 10.5% in dwelling burglaries, 10.3% in non-dwelling burglaries, 11% in motor vehicle theft, 8.2% in stealing from vehicles, and 7.4% in fraud.
• These findings indicate a positive association between gambling expenditure and crime.

Conclusions:

• Electronic gaming expenditure shows a positive association with both property and violent crime in New South Wales.
• The study highlights a significant link between increased gambling activity and criminal behavior.