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Do Gambling Firms Target Crime-Prone Areas?

We investigate the causal effect of local crime on the entry of betting shops. To isolate the effect, we develop an empirical model to study the firm-side incentives driving the opening of a betting shop. We estimate a panel model employing an instrumental variable approach using data from London boroughs. Our result shows that a 1% increase in the local crime rate causes a 1.2% increase in the number of betting shops per capita. Put another way, a new betting shop opens in a borough for every 1.4% increase in the local crime rate. This finding demonstrates a disconnect between one of the objectives of the Gambling Act (2005) in the U.K., which aims to keep crime separate from gambling, and the firm-side conduct in the market.