Geographical accessibility to gambling venues and pathological gambling: an econometric analysis of pachinko parlours in Japan

Abstract

The relationship between geographical accessibility to gambling venues and the prevalence of pathological gambling is still unknown. This study aimed to reveal this relationship in Japan as well as its variation by subpopulation. A cross-sectional study was conducted, based on an original web-based survey to understand the level of pathological gambling depending on accessibility to pachinko parlours. Pathological gamblers were measured using the Japanese version of the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Accessibility to gambling venues was defined as the number of pachinko parlours within a 1.5 km radius from home. Moreover, the study adopted the instrumental variable approach to solve the potential endogeneity problem. The results showed that the accessibility was not significantly associated with pathological gambling in general, but that the effects of accessibility varied by subpopulation. Accessibility was significantly and positively correlated with pathological gambling for men and people in low-income areas, but this was not so for women and people in high-income areas. The study’s findings show the importance of the neighbourhood environment and could help in implementing more effective interventions for pathological gamblers.

Keywords:

• Prevalence
• environmental effects
• income
• Japan
• pathological gambling

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Ibuka and the participants of the Young Researcher Seminar of the Japan Health Economics Association held in Kyoto in 2015 for their valuable comments.

Notes

1. People aged 17 years and younger are not allowed to enter PPs, per Japan’s Entertainment Business Act.

2. In this study, ‘remote islands’ are defined as Okinawa Prefecture, excluding Okinawa Main Island, and the areas under Special Measures Laws for the Development of Remote Islands, Amami Islands and Ogasawara Islands.

3. In this study, the term ‘main roads’ refers to national and main regional roads.