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  4. May 2021
  5. Gaming Opportunities: American Indian Casinos, Cash Transfers, and Income Mobility on the Reservation

AEA Papers and Proceedings

ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)

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Gaming Opportunities: American Indian Casinos, Cash Transfers, and Income Mobility on the Reservation

  • Emilia Simeonova
  • Randall Akee
  • Maggie R. Jones
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111, May 2021
(pp. 221–26)
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Abstract

We examine the impact of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on the income rank of American Indian (AI) reservation residents. We assemble a panel dataset at the individual level for tax filers residing on AI reservations in 1989. We examine the effect of casino operations and cash distribution payments (from casino revenues) on the income-rank evolution over time. Casino operations provide an unambiguous increase in family income rank for those residing on reservations with an operating casino relative to those on reservations without a casino. The presence of an operating casino increases relative income rank by half a percentage point.

Citation

Simeonova, Emilia, Randall Akee, and Maggie R. Jones. 2021. "Gaming Opportunities: American Indian Casinos, Cash Transfers, and Income Mobility on the Reservation." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111: 221–26. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211014

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • L83 Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
  • J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
  • D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
  • L88 Industry Studies: Services: Government Policy
  • K23 Regulated Industries and Administrative Law