The economic cost-benefit analysis of problem gambling has shown that many business sectors are adversely affected by the growth of gambling. Retail businesses, particularly small businesses, are most likely to suffer negative effects as a result of casino expansion. These businesses may suffer from problems related to staff retention and increased costs associated with shop rents and operating expenses. In addition, the expansion of casinos may reduce the number of jobs in the area. So, what is the negative impact of gambling?
Socially acceptable forms of gambling
Many denominations of Christianity do not have any formal policy on gambling, but most allow some form of it. Among the most widely accepted forms of gambling in America are local bingo games, lotteries, and card games. These activities involve some element of skill, which makes them socially acceptable. However, most members of the general public do not possess the required skills to consistently earn a profit from these activities. This leaves professional poker players and sports handicappers as the only people able to make a profit from gambling.
Financial harms of gambling
The impact of gambling on society is extensive, and can be measured both on an individual and societal level. The economic harms of gambling are evident in increased crime and driving while intoxicated, but they also contribute to higher population and tourism levels. Pathological gambling contributes to an estimated $1000 extra per person over the lifetime of police departments. Problem gambling costs the criminal justice system between $51 and $243 million a year. The negative social effects of gambling can extend beyond the financial costs to include personal, psychological, and occupational health.
The social and economic harms of gambling have been poorly quantified in research. While the costs of pathological gambling are well-known, the effects of non-problematic gambling have been overlooked. However, even those non-problematic gamblers can experience financial harms. By identifying those impacts and calculating their costs, policymakers and regulators can better understand the true costs of gambling and better protect against them. However, a public health approach focuses on both the benefits and disadvantages of gambling.
Economic cost-benefit analysis
A new report by the College of Charleston reveals that the economic benefits of casinos are far outweighing the costs, and the benefits are overwhelmingly beneficial for casino gamblers. However, the study also highlights the difficulty of determining the specific benefits of gambling. Intangible effects of gambling are difficult to measure and cannot be quantified in dollar terms. For this reason, gambling-related economic analyses generally do not include these effects.
The study’s findings suggest that a gambling ban would not reduce the number of people who gamble, but instead would decrease the costs of problem gambling. In addition, there are many intangible costs associated with gambling. These include emotional pain caused to family members of pathological gamblers and losses in productivity of problem gamblers. The study has identified some potential areas for further research and will continue to improve public policy on the subject.
Long-term effects of problem gambling
Despite a high public health impact of gambling, the harms of gambling are generally underestimated. Researchers have focused their efforts on determining the costs of problem gambling, but the social and economic effects of gambling have also been studied. A cost-benefit analysis, based on economic measures, tries to uncover the positive effects of gambling. In addition to assessing the costs to society, economists also attempt to measure the benefits of gambling.
Many studies have revealed that the long-term consequences of problem gambling extend beyond the individual gambler. Typically, a gambling problem affects five to ten people, and the number of negatively affected lives is about three to four times greater than the prevalence of problem gambling in the general population. In New Zealand, 30 percent of the adult population knows someone who suffers from a gambling problem, and 8% of these people experienced some type of harm. The financial consequences are often felt most acutely by the spouse and children of a problem gambler.