Public services are often affected by gambling revenues, but the positive effects of gambling are often overlooked. The negative impacts of gambling have been examined through health-related quality of life (HRQoL) weights, which measure the per-person burden of a health state on one’s quality of life. These weights can also be used to measure intangible social costs associated with gambling, such as harms to social networks. To better understand the social costs associated with gambling, it is helpful to compare the economic benefits and harms to gambling.
Economic cost-benefit analysis
The Economic Cost-Benefit Analysis (COI) of gambling considers the costs and benefits of gambling and its effect on society. The costs of gambling are divided into three categories: direct costs, which include resources used in treating gambling-related problems, and non-medical costs, which include money, time, and energy that cannot be produced or bought. The indirect costs include non-created resources, such as social support and lost productivity due to gambling-related issues.
Gross impact studies tend to focus on only one aspect of an economic impact, and they do not pretend to provide a fair and balanced view of the costs of gambling. These studies tend to overstate the benefits of gambling and understate the costs. They also fail to account for expenditure substitution and geographic scope, and neglect to account for transfer effects. This type of analysis, therefore, is not very useful for policy-making purposes.
Social impacts
The negative impacts of gambling are not the only problems associated with the game. There are also many positive impacts of gambling on communities. Although studies have generally focused on the negative aspects of gambling, they have often neglected the many positive impacts. Gambling-related harms also affect nongamblers. Many of the studies used to evaluate the social impacts of gambling are flawed and lack adequate methodology. The following sections discuss the methods and challenges associated with gambling impact studies.
The effects of gambling are complex and can manifest on a personal, interpersonal, and societal level. Economic impacts include tourism revenue and the costs associated with infrastructure. These impacts increase economic activity. The labor impact is associated with reduced productivity, reduced performance, and job gains. The health impacts include mental health and physical well-being. This study will be helpful in determining the best way to regulate gambling. In addition to social effects, research will identify the potential for future legislation and policy.
Costs
One study looked at the social cost of gambling. It estimated that 2/3 of people with gambling problems committed non-violent crimes to finance their gambling habits. These crimes almost always involved embezzlement, fencing stolen goods, and insurance fraud. These crimes also led to losses for the criminal justice system, such as court costs and incarceration. Costs of gambling-related crime include police and court expenses, as well as the financial impact of bad debts.
The social cost of gambling is difficult to quantify. Estimates vary widely, and there is no unified measure of the total cost. In Australia, a study in 1989 estimated the societal costs of gambling to be between 0.3 and 1% of GDP. That is roughly equivalent to AUD 4.7-8.4 billion per year. Other studies in different states have found similar costs. These estimates are a good start in assessing the social cost of problem gambling.
Measurement
One of the most widely used measures of gambling is the Gambling Attitude Scale (GAS). This measure consists of nine Likert-type items, each of which has a score ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. High scores on the scale reflect a positive attitude toward gambling. It has excellent internal consistency and validity. However, there are some limitations to this measure. For example, it does not account for the effects of monetary losses or gains.
The GRKS-A has satisfactory psychometric properties and is the most commonly used measure of gambling knowledge in adolescents. Its validity and reliability are confirmed through psychometric analyses and a significant negative correlation between the GRKS-A and gambling frequency. Additionally, the GRKS-A scale has a brief and unidimensional form, making it suitable for use in gambling education. This scale is also used to monitor the effectiveness of educational interventions and to monitor change over time.