Submission Title
The Societal Value of Casinos: A Utilitarian Analysis
Session Title
Session 1-4-E: Implications of Casino Policy and Development
Presentation Type
Event
Location
The Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Start Date
7-6-2016 4:00 PM
End Date
7-6-2016 5:30 PM
Disciplines
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics | Economics | Ethics and Political Philosophy | Gaming and Casino Operations Management | International Business | Psychology | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Sociology | Taxation
Abstract
A variety of ethical analyses of the gaming industry could be developed, based on a Kantian Deontological framework, a virtue ethics framework, or some other basis. I will use a utilitarian framework, based on the greatest good of the many is the basis of the good. Here I will a. first outline some of the key ethical issues which arise for the gaming industry, then b. provide a framework for a basic utilitarian analysis of casinos; c. outline empirical on the affects of casinos based on research done in two somewhat recent works, Gambling in America, Who Wins, Who Loses? by Grinolis (Cambridge Press, 2009) and Governing Fortune: Casino Gambling in America by Goss and Morse (Michigan Press, 2007) highlighting negative externalities of casino gambling such as crime, employment costs, bankruptcy, suicide, illness, social services costs, direct regulation costs, family problems, and abused dollars; d. highlight the social benefits provided by Casinos using a particular case study of the Iowa West Foundation and its support from the casinos operating in Council Bluffs Iowa; and e. provide a concluding analysis of the ethics of casinos via a utilitarian analysis, relying especially on John Stuart Mill.
Keywords
casinos, social benefit, ethics, utilitarian, negative externalities, positive externalities
Streaming Media
The Societal Value of Casinos: A Utilitarian Analysis
The Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
A variety of ethical analyses of the gaming industry could be developed, based on a Kantian Deontological framework, a virtue ethics framework, or some other basis. I will use a utilitarian framework, based on the greatest good of the many is the basis of the good. Here I will a. first outline some of the key ethical issues which arise for the gaming industry, then b. provide a framework for a basic utilitarian analysis of casinos; c. outline empirical on the affects of casinos based on research done in two somewhat recent works, Gambling in America, Who Wins, Who Loses? by Grinolis (Cambridge Press, 2009) and Governing Fortune: Casino Gambling in America by Goss and Morse (Michigan Press, 2007) highlighting negative externalities of casino gambling such as crime, employment costs, bankruptcy, suicide, illness, social services costs, direct regulation costs, family problems, and abused dollars; d. highlight the social benefits provided by Casinos using a particular case study of the Iowa West Foundation and its support from the casinos operating in Council Bluffs Iowa; and e. provide a concluding analysis of the ethics of casinos via a utilitarian analysis, relying especially on John Stuart Mill.
Comments
Audio recording of this presentation is attached as a downloadable MP3 audio file, 40.4 MB.
This presentation starts at 24:23.