Several environmental changes in the 1990s--including the introduction of a national lottery, the rise of Internet gambling, and the reduction of trade barriers within the EU--induced the UK government to initiate a large--scale review of betting duty. As a result of this review, the government...

In this paper, we examine a relatively novel form of gambling, spread (or index) betting that overlaps with practices in conventional financial markets. In this form of betting, a number of bookmakers quote bid-offer spreads about the result of some future event. Bettors may buy (sell) at the...

Gambling is one of the fastest growing service industries. Unfortunately, there have been no studies of total factor productivity (TFP) in this sector. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, based on an analysis of U.K. establishment-level data. These data are derived from the Annual...

Edith Penrose noted that firms may need to rely on research joint ventures (RJVs) to acquire access to resources that can help them achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. We estimate an econometric model of the propensity of firms to disclose their intention to engage in RJVs, in order to...

In October 2001, the U.K. government implemented a dramatic shift in gambling taxation, resulting in a substantial decline in taxes levied on U.K. bookmakers. Using data before and after this event, we present econometric evidence on the demand response to this tax reduction. Our results imply...

In this article, we use attendance data from the two main domestic cricket leagues in England and Wales to estimate the impact of a series of recent structural changes. We find that changes to the organization of cricket in England have had major impacts on attendance. Attendance is...

The recent worldwide increase in gambling and prediction markets, including casinos, sports betting, lotteries, elections, and wagering on financial instruments has stimulated an important debate regarding the public policy implications of these activities. Some critical research questions...

This paper examines the existence of significant differences in the expected returns to bets placed about identical outcomes in different sectors of a betting market. In an informationally efficient market, such differences should be arbitraged away. Evidence is presented here which suggests...