William R. Eadington and the Economics of Gambling

Introduction As any reader of this Journal knows, gambling research is a relatively young field. The economics of gambling (or gaming), as a sub-field, has really taken off only since the early 1990s, when casinos began expanding outside of Nevada and Atlantic City. Since then, the literature has grown dramatically, to include numerous articles in mainstream economics journals, as well as the introduction of new journals dedicated to gambling research. As the gaming industry has grown worldwide, the increased availability of data has provided a vastly expanded menu of available research topics in economics. Modern gambling research, whether on the psychology or economics of gambling, can perhaps trace its roots back to the 1st National (later International) Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking, organized by Bill Eadington at the University of Nevada, Reno, and held in Las Vegas in 1974. At that time, only 12 states had lotteries (Clotfelter and Cook 1991), and commercial casinos operated only in Nevada. There was virtually no published literature in economics on the gambling industry, although there had been some papers published on risk-taking and gambling behavior (e.g., Friedman and Savage, 1948). It is fair to say that Bill almost single-handedly created the “economics of gambling” field. The importance of his International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking series in the development of this research field cannot be overstated. Bill brought together researchers from different disciplines and countries who could discuss and debate various facets of gambling. Economists who study in this area have a natural appreciation for other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, public administration, and law (among others), because gambling research is, by its nature, interdisciplinary. At one point, this aspect of gambling research made it more difficult to publish in economics journals. More recently, because of the importance of the industry, and because of the increased visibility of good gambling research, it is now easier to publish work on gambling in mainstream economics journals. As explained by Eadington (2003, p. 204), at the time of the 1st National Conference, the gambling industry had a “nefarious reputation and checkered past.” Eadington and others who were doing research on either the gambling industry or gambling behavior were probably viewed as being far outside the mainstream, in terms of their choice of Kahlil S. Philander, Ph.D Project Economist, UNLV International Gaming Institute; Senior Policy Researcher, Centre for the Advancement of Best Practices, Responsible Gambling Council; Email: [email protected].