Does gambling expenditure have any effect on crime?

Background and Aims: Australians spend more per capita on gambling than any other country in the world. Electronic gaming machines (EGM) expenditure accounts for almost 90% of this expenditure. No study to date has conducted a rigorous longitudinal analysis of the relationship between gambling expenditure and crime. This study aimed to estimate the short- and long-run relationship between gambling expenditure and crime.
Design: Longitudinal analysis using panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modelling.
Setting and Cases: Recorded property and violent crimes committed in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, between 28 December 2015 and 5 January 2020.
Measurements: Monthly gross EGM expenditure profit, broken down by Local Government Area (LGA). Monthly recorded rates of assault, break enter and steal (dwelling), break enter and steal (non-dwelling), break enter and steal (total), motor vehicle theft, stealing from a motor vehicle, stealing from a retail store, stealing from the person, stealing (total) and fraud.
Findings: Each 10% increase in gambling expenditure in NSW is associated with annual: 7.4% increase in assaults, 10.5% increase in break and enter (dwelling) offences; 10.3% increase in break and enter (non-dwelling) offences; 11% increase in motor vehicle theft offences; 8.2% increase in stealing from motor vehicle offences; and 7.4% increase in fraud offences.
Conclusion: Electronic gaming expenditure appears to be positively associated with property and violent crime in New South Wales, Australia.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.)