In recent years, there has been a substantial rise in interest among academics and policymakers in the economics of gambling. A concomitant trend has been the implementation of major regulatory changes and modifications to the taxation of gambling markets in several nations. Examples include a fundamental change in the U.K. in 2001 from a turnover-based tax on betting operators to a tax based on gross profits, resulting in the effective abolition of taxation levied directly on bettors, followed in 2005 by extensive reforms to the gambling sector resulting from introduction of the Gambling Act. In the U.S., passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 had profound implications for the global online gambling sector. There have also been numerous regulatory changes to gambling in Europe, Asia, and Australia. These changes and rising concern regarding revenue generated from this activity have heightened interest in understanding the economics of this sector. Despite growing interest in the economics of gambling, there is no comprehensive source of path-breaking research on this topic. The purpose of this handbook is to fill this gap. Specifically, we divide the handbook into sections on casinos, sports betting, racetrack betting, betting strategy, motivation, behaviour and decision-making in betting markets, prediction markets and political betting, and lotteries and gambling machines.
Are Sports Betting Markets Semi-Strong Efficient? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic