CALIFORNIA’S GAMING PROPOSITIONS: HOW HAS THE EXPANSION OF GAMING RIGHTS AFFECTED LOCAL COMMUNITIES?

In the past twenty years, the growth of tribal casinos has given the state of California the distinction of being second only to Nevada in the number of casino gaming operations. Upcoming state-wide propositions could potentially double the size of existing casinos in the state. Yet, there has been surprisingly little research on how legalized casino gaming has already affected the state of California. This study investigates the effects that California Native American casinos have had on California communities to date. In particular, it examines how casino gambling has affected local tax revenues and expenditures, bankruptcies, employment, and crime. In both cross-sectional and panel regression analysis, we find a modest correlation between Indian casinos and county employment rates. On the other hand, we find that counties with a larger casino presence experienced somewhat higher crime and higher rates of personal bankruptcy. This study also finds that casinos have a positive correlation with certain categories of tax revenues and expenditures. In most cases a stronger relationship was found when the number of Indian gaming tables, as opposed to the number of slot machines, is used as a measure of casino presence