Assessing the Impact of Legalized Mobile Sports Betting on Suicide Rates: A Synthetic Control Approach

• In Event: Advances in Modeling and Causal Inference

Abstract

The relationship between legalized gambling and suicide is complex and multifaceted, and although the proliferation of online sports betting has reinvigorated studies in this area, research findings have been mixed. Much of the disagreement among findings in this area, however, stems from either the variety of quasi-experimental and observational methodologies utilized, or the relatively low dosage of gambling treatments examined (e.g. the construction of new retail casinos). Previously, the highest dosage gambling treatment examined was the 1978 introduction of retail casinos to Atlantic City, which required people to physically travel to the casino to gamble and made gambling in secret much more effortful. In comparison, mobile sports betting platforms are considerably more accessible and require much less effort to hide one’s gambling. This study uses a synthetic control approach to estimate the impact of the legalization and introduction of online mobile sports betting platforms on state-level suicide rates among early adopting states. Preliminary results suggest a more dynamic and heterogeneous impact than would be predicted via the interpersonal theory of suicide. Heterogeneities across age and class are explored.

Author

• Bradley Bartos, University of Arizona, School of Government and Public Policy