Community effects of the opening of the Niagara casino (original) (raw)

“Assessing the Impact of the Introduction of Casinos in Two Northern Alberta First Nation Communities.”

This article argues that socio-economic analyses of reserve casino projects, specifically those studies structured to offer an overall assessment of success or failure, need to embrace mixed methods approaches. In particular, eliciting community-based perspectives through qualitative data gathering techniques is essential to provide a level of context required to better understand the casinos’ overall influence. To date researchers tend to rely on First Nations leaders projections and assessments as the baseline data for their analysis. This article compares the impacts of two casinos in northern Alberta communities, and shows how focus groups provided a grassroots perspective of the casinos’ positive and negative impacts that were not captured by the quantitative data.

Residents' perceptions of casino impacts: A comparative study

Tourism Management, 2010

The primary purpose of this study was to explore differences in residents' perceptions of casino development between South Korea and Colorado. The communities surveyed are former depressed mining areas with significant historic characteristics. The secondary purpose was to investigate whether social exchange theory is appropriate to explain residents' perceptions of the impact of casinos on community support for casino development. In general, three factors of residents' perceptions and support were found to be significantly different between the two study sites. Furthermore, the effects of positive social impact on benefits, of both positive social impact and negative environmental impact on support, and the benefit factor on support level were significantly different between the two data collection areas. The study findings support the appropriateness of social exchange theory in explaining residents' responses in both study areas.

Resident perception of the impact of limited-stakes community-based casino gaming in mature gaming communities

Tourism Management, 2008

The purpose of this research is to assess the impacts of Colorado's community-based, limited-stakes casino gaming after 12 years of operation. Current residents' perceived impacts, benefits, and support of community development due to gaming were examined in the three Colorado gaming communities of Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek. Results of the study suggest that as gaming development has evolved, residents of these gaming towns have continued to reflect the underlying tenets of social exchange theory in their assessment of gaming. Perception by residents of positive gaming impacts significantly influenced residents' perceived benefits and these positive benefits also had a positive effect on residents' support for gaming. Findings of the study concluded that regardless of the life cycle stage of a gaming community, social exchange theory was still valid in explaining the relationships among residents' perceived impacts, benefits, and support of gaming development. r

The Socioeconomic Impacts of a Native American Casino

1996

In this in-depth case study, input-output analysis, secondary data analysis, focus groups, and personal interviews were employed to investigate the local-level impacts of a Native American casino. Both impacts in the small, rural Midwestern town which hosts the casino and Tribal-level impacts were examined. Analysis suggests that the economic impacts in the host town are similar to those that might be associated with the introduction of any large employer. Employment and income have increased locally; business opportunities have been created; and some local public services, such as law enforcement, have been strained. The casino has also altered the character of the community, creating an atmosphere of a busy, tourist center in a previously quiet, rural town. The sudden change in the financial position of the Tribal members has resulted in a variety of unresolved cultural, social, and economic difficulties. Specific conflicts have arisen between the Tribe and the local community over issues such as the tax exempt status of the trust land on which the casino is located and payments in lieu of tax. Although the casino presents the unique opportunity for the Native American and non-Native American communities to engage in economic and community development plans together, they have not fully explored these options because of a lack of communication and understanding between the communities. It is useful to categorize gaming enterprises by their relative size and function. Noncommercial gaming used for fund-raising for non-profits, such as church bingo, can be considered charitable gaming. These games usually.offer small prizes and generate relatively small amounts of revenue. Small-scale gaming enterprises include river boat casinos, historic town casinos, and Native American casinos. These gaming enterprises have been introduced largely for the purpose of economic revitalization in depressed economic regions and are often highly regulated and restricted to specific geographical locations within states. They may offer high-stakes games and prizes, but do not generally generate the level of revenue and tourist draw that large-scale casinos do. Large-scale gaming enterprises are high-profile, high profit, commercial operations such as found in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Monte Carlo. Some casinos cross the boundaries of these categories. For example, the Foxwoods Casino is a Native American casino owned by the Pequot Mashantucket Tribe of Connecticut. Yet, it is also the largest single casino in the world and generates a large amount of revenue like a large-scale casino. 2 The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 stipulates that federally recognized Native American tribes may operate high stakes gaming enterprises on federal trust land in states that allow gaming for any other purposes (such as state lotteries or cha. ritable gaming). IGRA requires each tribe to negotiate a gaming compact with the state that outlines the tribe's and state's roles in regulation of the gaming enterprise. 3 The case study town will be referred to as "Casino Town" throughout this analysis to maintain the town citizens' and tribes ' anonymity. The case study tribe will be referred to simply as the "Tribe.

"Are Canadian First Nations Casinos Providing Maximum Benefits? Appraising First Nations Casinos in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, 2006-2010."

UNLV Gaming Research and Review 18, no. 2 (2014): 65-84.

To date a dearth of data has made it difficult to evaluate the success of First Nations casinos in Canada. This paper helps remedy this situation by presenting a three-province overview (Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta) of First Nations gaming models. Two key findings are offered that First Nations seeking gaming market entry, and provincial officials should genuinely consider. First, while each province has adopted a unique approach to First Nations gaming policy they have each opted to direct substantial revenues out of First Nations communities and into their own treasuries. Second, the evidence suggests that larger gaming properties located nearby a significant market provide more benefits versus smaller properties situated in more isolated areas. The subsequent discussion elaborates each provincial model’s revenue generating power, how the revenue in question is being allocated and its corresponding socio-economic impact, whether increased problem gambling and crime have resulted as predicted, while exploring employment trends to determine whether they have developed as anticipated.

Evaluating the Ecological Association of Casino Industry Economic Development on Community Health Status

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 2007

O bjectives of this study were to examine for associations of casino industry economic development on improving community health status and funding for public health services in two counties in the Mississippi Delta Region of the United States. An ecological approach was used to evaluate whether two counties with casino gaming had improved health status and public health funding in comparison with two noncasino counties in the same region with similar social, racial, and ethic backgrounds. Variables readily available from state health department records were used to develop a logic model for guiding analytical work. A linear regression model was built using a stepwise approach and hierarchical regression principles with many dependent variables and a set of fixed and nonfixed independent variables. County-level data for 23 variables over an 11-year period were used. Overall, this study found a lack of association between the presence of a casino and desirable health outcomes or funding for public health services. Changes in the environment were made to promote health by utilizing gaming revenues to build state-of-the-art community health and wellness centers and sports facilities. However, significant increases in funding for local public health services were not found in either of the counties with casinos. These findings are relevant for policy makers when debating economic development strategies. Analysis similar to this should be combined with other routine public health assessments after implementation of development strategies to increase knowledge of health outcome

"Casinos and Economic Well-Being: Evaluating the Alberta First Nations' Experience."

To date 17 First Nations have introduced casinos as an economic strategy to help mitigate existing socio-economic disparities in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, while the provincial Nova Scotia First Nations operate ‘Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) palaces’ (i.e., no table games). Although the economic benefits of Native casinos in the United States are well documented, there is very little research to determine whether the same effects exist in Canada. The present research seeks to partly fill this void by evaluating the impact of the recent introduction of casinos to Alberta First Nation (i.e., reserve) communities. Findings show that there is significant variability in the economic benefits between communities. Nonetheless, it is clear that, in general, the introduction of casinos in Alberta has broad economic benefits to Alberta First Nations.

Regional impacts of casino availability on gambling problems: Evidence from the Canadian Community Health Survey

Tourism Management, 2019

Casinos are generally recognized as significant generators of economic impact and tourism, but access is typically controlled in a perceived effort to reduce social harms, particularly those from gambling disorders. Using data from a representative sample of 50,048 Canadians across four provinces, this study empirically tests theory of the regional impacts of casino availability on participation in gambling and the development of gambling related problems. Increased exposure to casinos is found to be related to increases in both participation and problem gambling risk, despite the observation that all four provinces recently experienced casino expansion and population-wide declines in problem gambling prevalence rates. The estimates are robust to broad controls for health and demographic risk factors. The findings suggest that hospitality/tourism planners should consider wider expansion of gambling paired with increased investment in responsible and problem gambling programs, to maximize economic impacts while accelerating social adaptation to gambling related harms.