Regulation of online gambling

In most jurisdictions gambling is considered a demerit good that causes negative externalities and requires market interventions. Such interventions are based on (1) consumer protection and public health, (2) crime prevention and public order, and (3) fiscal motives. Despite a relative homogeneity among Western cultures in normative values, a broad variety of regulatory systems for online gambling can be observed, ranging from free markets to licensing systems, state monopolies and prohibitions—even within the same nation state. It is hypothesized that these differences stem from insufficient knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of online gambling rather than from different regulatory goals. A comparative study is thus needed to explore the socioeconomic effects of different regulatory regimes and to educate regulators