Local Economic Impacts of Tribal Casinos: The Minnesota Case

This study examined the economic effects of Native American casinos on their surround-ing rural counties. The relationship between the presence of a casino and four measures of per capita income was analyzed using econometric methods. The study’s data are from Minnesota, a state in which 16 casinos opened between 1990 and 1993. In their first two years (1990 and 1991), casinos were significantly correlated with an increase in income earned by workers in the eating and drinking industry, and somewhat correlated with income earned by hotel and amusement industry workers. They had no significant effect on overall per capita income in their counties. As with any new industry, the addition of a Native Ameri-can casino to a rural area should have some economic effect on the surrounding communities. Jobs created by casinos on Indian reservations should directly improve the economic well-being of the Native Americans as well as local non-Indians who work at the casinos. Increased tourism would be expected to increase the demand for complementary goods and services like food, lodging, recreation, and gasoline. Between 1990 and 1993 16 Indian gambling casinos were opened in Minnesota, employing 10,353 people, 29 % o