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Dreaming Big : Why Do People Play the Powerball ?

The question of why individuals participate in gambling activities has been puzzling to economists at least since Friedman and Savage (1948). The increase in state-run lotteries in recent years has reopened this issue alongside the issue of whether lotteries exploit consumers. This paper addresses the question of whether lotteries are exploitive by connecting it to the question of why people play at all. I use two large new datasets on a lotto game (the Powerball lottery) to analyze lottery behavior in detail and provide insight into the validity of three existing theories about lottery play. This paper reveals four new facts about the lottery. First, sales increase more with increases in jackpot in richer areas. Second, sales increase more with increases in jackpot size when the odds of winning are better. Third, sales vary systematically over days of the week and time of the year. Fourth, people will purchase tickets for future drawings when they are available. The facts are most strongly consistent with the idea of an additive utility of lottery gambling. This result suggests that state-run lotteries are actually providing utility to consumers and concerns about exploitation are therefore less important.