Background: Taxation can be used to direct consumption and provision of harmful commodities. Prior research on gambling taxation has nevertheless been inconclusive on whether this can also apply to gambling. In gambling policy, optimal taxation rates have particularly been debated from the perspective of channelling consumption from offshore markets to regulated markets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The production of addictive commodities is subject to a range of commercial determinants. There has nevertheless been a gap in understanding how investments into addictive commodities may function as commercial determinants. Institutional investors can yield important financial power with their investment decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLancet Public Health
January 2024
The public health community has called for governments to recognise the harms associated with gambling, and for gambling policies to include population-based harm prevention approaches. This Health Policy explores the translation of this call into global policy action by systematically reviewing legislation of jurisdictions that introduced major gambling legislation change (ie, restricting or extending gambling provision) between Jan 1, 2018, and Dec 31, 2021. We mapped the global availability of legal gambling and changes in its provision, and conducted critical frame analysis on a sample of 33 jurisdictions introducing major policy change to assess the extent to which the protection of health and wellbeing was embedded within legislation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Public Health
April 2024
Background: Gambling is connected to important financial harms, including debt. Most existing research has investigated the relationship between gambling and debt using self-reported data. Only a few studies have used objective data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Electronic gambling machines (EGMs) are amongst the most harmful forms of gambling. The high availability of EGMs is also linked to increased consumption. To reduce the burden of EGMs on public health, policies to reduce their numbers have recently been introduced in Italy and Finland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: This article assesses the efficiency of six Nordic state-controlled gambling companies in raising revenue for their host societies, and the terms under which they operate. Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have established gambling monopolies on the grounds that they help to prevent fraud and money laundering, and channel proceeds to their host societies. Within the last decade, Denmark (2012) and Sweden (2019) have opened substantial parts of their gambling markets to competition, whereas Finland and Norway continue to uphold monopolies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlike in other Nordic countries, most of the electronic gambling machines (EGMs) are placed outside the Casino Helsinki and the gambling arcades in Finland. The placement of EGMs in non-casino locations, such as supermarkets, kiosks, and petrol stations, is matter of serious concern. We argue that availability and accessibility of EGMs has led to normalisation and banalisation of gambling in Finland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gambling industry has grown into a global business in the 21st century. This has created the need for a new emphasis on problem prevention. This article highlights the core themes of the book Setting Limits: Gambling, Science and Public Policy, taking a broad view of the consequences of gambling for society as a burden on health, well-being and equality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLicensing is currently the most popular option among regulators for controlling gambling operations. However, approximately 20% of operators are still public monopolies. Many forms of gambling (especially lotteries) are government operated even in countries with a licensing system.
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