Gaming Regulation and Intellectual Capital

Transcription

1 Gaming Regulation and Intellectual Capital Professor Bo J. Bernhard, Ph.D. Executive Director International Gaming Institute University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2 1996: I came to Berlin! And my world changed forever for the better.

3 Das Ende?

4 And then I became an academic! Harvard magna cum laude doublemajor honors thesis on social and economic impacts of gambling Today, I continue to pursue these most interesting questions as Executive Director at the UNLV International Gaming Institute (IGI)

5 A brief (but informative) history of gaming regulation in the United States

6 What ended this period: The Government Regulator Heroes! Often overlooked when contemplating these dirty periods : It was Las Vegas Big Cleanup that allowed for an unprecedented era of expansion and profits the regulators were (and are) heroes!

7 Why did the big cleanup yield a better business model? 1. More visitors were suddenly eligible to have the Las Vegas experience when it was clean, opening the door to many new customers. 2. Access to more (and better) capital the markets could not/would not lend to Las Vegas before, and new $ better product

8 Result: What Las Vegas Is Today In 2015, 42M visitors (The Las Vegas Strip : earth s most visited tourist site) City wide gaming revenue: approximately $US10B, but gaming revenues on the Las Vegas Strip now account for only 34.9% of overall revenues (from ~70% a generation ago, and 41% pre recession) Not just for fun: 5.9M of those visitors are convention visitors (more than 22,000 conventions; #1 trade show destination for 20 years; these generate US$7.4B in non gaming revenue) Over 150,00 hotel rooms largest hotel inventory, and highest hotel occupancy in the US: 87.1% (91.1% weekends); US national average is 62.3% Average stay: 3.3 nights Average age: 45 (declining; 10% are under 21) 15% are first time visitors, 20% are international 366,400 jobs supported by tourism (43% of work force) Source: LVCVA

9 The best business decision Las Vegas ever made was to clean up!

10 Economists often say.. That heavy handed interventions of big government shrink revenues, stifle business, and ruin economies. In Las Vegas, however, the opposite was true: the moment strong regulation was introduced and became effective was the moment the gaming industry became massively profitable.

11 Remarkably, the same was also true in the world s other major market: Macao

12 So this is one field where regulation can be a force of good!

13 The State of Knowledge in 2016 There are many common questions that governments and communities have about gambling; fortunately, the scientific research on these topics has evolved significantly over the past years. In these important fields, common (and understandable) questions have been addressed, and our current understandings correct some previous misperceptions.

14 What are the costs and benefits?

15 Answer: Not all kinds of gambling are equal We Can Rank the Cost Benefit Ratios Tourist oriented Integrated Resort Casinos Best ratio (capture tourism benefits; minimize costs of spielsucht) Local Casinos Next best (limited tourism, spielsucht limited to surrounding area) Gaming Saloons and Parlors Lower ratio (limited investment, no exports, local spielsucht) Convenience Gaming Locations Still lower (fewest jobs, local spielsucht) Illegal Gambling Worst ratio (significant social costs, no protections, no tax benefits) Sources: Eadington (2009, 1999); Bernhard and Philander (2013)

16 Tourist oriented Integrated Resort

17 Local Casinos

18 Gambling Saloons and Parlors

19 Convenience Gambling

20 Illegal Gambling

21 What s going to happen with problem gambling when gambling is introduced?

22 What Happens to Problem Gambling in New Jurisdictions? Exposure and Adaptation Source: LaPlante, et al 2011

23 PG in Japan today vs. tomorrow?

24 In the United States, problem gambling rates have actually stabilized or declined during a period of gambling expansion. Source: National Center for Responsible Gaming

25 Problem Gambling in Singapore Prevalence Rates in Singapore Percentage Probable 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 First casino opened February Year Problem Pathological Source: Singapore National Council on Problem Gambling, Survey on Participation in Gambling Activities Among Singapore Residents

26 Does culture matter (in regulation and with gambling studies more generally)?

27 Does culture matter? Yes! Anthropology: Per Binde s indigenous gambling map (2005)

28 Anthropological mistakes mistakes Americans often make when viewing the world through our own lenses! Chevrolet Nova (falsch, aber ) MGM Grand Lion Bo s anthropological mistake in South Korea

29 So what can we do, collectively, globally, and with an independent, research based perspective?

30 We at UNLV believe that the time has come for a university based International Center for Gaming Regulation, one which furthers global and local collaborative efforts to enhance the rigor with which regulation is approached.

31 Gaming is a global industry. Ownership, management, technology, and business practices span local and international borders. The regulation of gaming, however, is generally sequestered within each jurisdiction, leading to differing and often conflicting responses to regulatory challenges.

32 The Center will promote research into understanding and improving regulation, issue and archive independent publications on best practices, advocate for harmonization, and deliver educational programs to ensure that the world s gaming regulators have the best and most current knowledge available.

33 I promised I d come back

34 And I hope you visit us too! The world s largest, oldest (since 1974), and most prestigious research conference in gambling: The 16 th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking 500 attendees (from 27 countries), 300 research presentations 100 on regulation, law, and policy Held only every three years please come June 6 10, 2016 in Las Vegas!

35 Vielen lieben dank! Professor Bo Bernhard