Friday, 16 March 2018: 10:10 AM
The field of behavioral economics has received increased attention in the past several years, and most recently since Richard Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Prize for his work in developing the field. Despite the fact that gambling research often cites Kahneman & Tversky, the application of key ideas from behavioral economics are relatively scarce. In this paper, aimed at gambling researchers from a variety of disciplines, I introduce many of the ideas from behavioral economics that can be applied in gambling research, and in 'responsible gambling' specifically. 'Responsible gambling' is akin to responsible drinking. It means gambling for entertainment, but not to an extent that causes problems in a person's professional or personal life. Among the tools that clinicians, researchers, and the gambling industry suggest, are self-imposed limits on betting behavior. These limits focus on limiting monetary losses and the time spent gambling. A new idea from research is 'win limits' - or stopping when ahead, or with 'house money'. Research on gamblers who utilize such limits and on the adherence to such limits, is relatively new. This paper will provide an overview of the different concepts from behavioral economics, a review of how these concepts have been utilized in the published research to this point, and how future research could benefit from utilizing the ideas from behavioral economics. Researchers from a variety of disciplines, such as psychology, economics, sociology, and social work, may find this research interesting. Although there is no empirical model or data analysis in this paper, it is a conceptual piece and can provide a framework for future gambling research.