"...Grinols and Mustard provide a detailed discussion of the theoretical connection between casinos and crime (31-32). They discuss two potential factors through which casinos may reduce crime. First, if casinos present better job opportunities for low-skilled workers, crime may fall. Second, there may be economic development effects attributable to casino gambling that could reduce crime.
On the other hand, Grinols and Mustard discuss five ways in which casinos may lead to an increase in crime. First, casinos may harm economic development by draining the local economy of resources. Second, casinos may lead to an increased crime payoff, resulting in more crime. Third, pathological gambling may increase with the spread of casinos, and this can lead to more crime. Fourth, casinos may also attract criminals to a region, leading to more crime. Finally, Grinols and Mustard explain that casinos may induce a change in the local population, toward one more apt to commit crimes.
Unfortunately, the Grinols and Mustard empirical analysis has problems, including: (1) a lack of needed data and its effect on measuring the crime rate, (2) potential problems with their crime data, (3) a possible sample self-selection bias, (4) a poor measure of casino gambling activity, and (5) skewed interpretations of the empirical results. Since the Grinols and Mustard paper has been so influential, its shortcomings need to be thoroughly explored..."
