Indian gaming in Oklahoma: Implications for community welfare

•We focus on the economic effects of Indian gaming institutions in Oklahoma.•We use data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and the 500 Nations Indian gaming website.•Our results show that as Indian gaming operations grow in size, they generate positive economic effects in the host county. In the 1980s the United States began to establish an institutional framework for Indian gaming. Since then over 100 Indian gaming centers have sprung up across Oklahoma. Casino gambling can have a great affect on surrounding communities. However, there is a distinct possibility that these gains from casino gambling could be offset by social costs associated with problem gambling and crime, the cannibalization of existing industry (where funds are simply redirected from existing industries), and by any additional public expenditure needed to regulate or maintain the casino. For twenty years Native Americans have been operating casinos all over Oklahoma, yet the economic effects of these Indian gaming institutions have gone largely unstudied. This paper offers significant conclusions regarding how Indian gaming impacts communities using data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 500 Nations Indian gaming website, and phone interviews with various gaming centers. Testable, quantitative conclusions provide a tool not only for Native American tribes but also policy makers in determining optimal amounts of gaming centers and how these centers are regulated and operated.