Gambling. Saving, and Lumpy Liquidity Needs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Herskowitz, Sylvan
• 署名单位: CGIAR; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20180177
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 72-104
• 关键词: lottery; utility; income; POOR; RISK

摘要

I present evidence that unmet liquidity needs for indivisible, lumpy, expenditures increase demand for betting as a second-best method of liquidity generation in the presence of financial constraints. With a sample of 1,708 sports bettors in Kampala, Uganda, I show that participants' targeted payouts are linked to anticipated expenditures, while winnings increase lumpy expenditures disproportionately. I show that a randomized savings treatment decreases demand for betting. And I use two lab-in-the-field experiments to show that unmet liquidity needs and saving ability are important mechanisms. These results cannot be explained by betting as a purely normal good.