EVALUATING GAMBLING LEGALIZATION: A READINESS INDEX FOR POLICY AND CRIME PREVENTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/acsr.2026.2Keywords:
Legalization Readiness Index, Gambling Governance, Crime Prevention, Institutional Capacity, Harm ReductionAbstract
The rapid expansion of the global gambling industry presents a critical dilemma for modern policymakers: balancing economic revenue against severe social harms and criminogenic risks like money laundering. Rejecting the binary approach of total prohibition versus unfettered deregulation, this study advocates a rational state-management framework. By synthesizing global policy experiences from 2001 to 2025, the research contrasts successful regulatory ecosystems in Singapore and the Nordic countries with systemic failures in the United States and Ukraine. We find that safe legalization requires robust institutional resilience, stringent oversight, and preemptive public health infrastructure. Consequently, this article introduces the Legalization Readiness Index (LRI), a novel diagnostic tool evaluating state preparedness across six dimensions: institutional, public health, legal, economic, public engagement, and digital capacities. The LRI specifically empowers governments to systematically identify infrastructural deficits before enacting complex legislative reform. This comprehensive framework provides a vital strategic roadmap for emerging economies to integrate gambling into formal economic sectors while decisively safeguarding public security and sustainable social welfare.
Downloads
References
Aidah, K., & Pratama, B. (2022). A comparison of regulations regarding online gambling among Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. A paper presented at the 3rd Asia Pacific International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, September 13-15, 2022, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Andresen, M. (2006). Governments' conflict of interest in treating problem gamblers. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 175(10), 1191.
Barker, T., & Britz, M. (2000). Jokers wild: Legalized gambling in the twenty-first century. London: Praeger.
Barrera-Algarín, E., & Vázquez-Fernández, M. (2021). The rise of online sports betting, its fallout, and the onset of a new profile in gambling disorder: Young people. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 39(3), 363-372.
Baxter, D., Hilbrecht, M., & Wheaton, C. (2019). A mapping review of research on gambling harm in three regulatory environments. Harm Reduction Journal, 16, 12.
BBC. (2023). Election 2023: Summary of campaign policies of 9 major parties before the election on May 14th. Retrieved from www.bbc.com/thai/thailand-65307789.
Boontawirot, M., & Wongsurawat, K. (2015). Acceptance of the Establishment of Legalized Casino by the Political Science Graduate Students Faculty of Social Sciences, Kasetsart University. Journal of Interdisciplinary: Graduate Studies, 4(4), 63-76.
Bublyk, L. (2025). Legalization of gaming business in Ukraine as a way of increase revenue to the state budget. Journal of Lviv Polytechnic National University: Series of Economics and Management Issues, 9(1), 1-11.
Calado, F., & Griffiths, M. (2016). Problem gambling worldwide: An update and systematic review of empirical research (2000-2015). Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5(4), 592-613.
Chaiprasit, S. (2021). Legal measure relating law to gambling: Study free opening casino industry. The Journal of Pacific Institute of Management Science (Humanities and Social Sciences), 7(3), 504-513.
Clune, S., Ratnaike, D., White, V., Donaldson, A., Randle, E., O’Halloran, P., & Lewis, V. (2024). What is known about population level programs designed to address gambling-related harm: Rapid review of the evidence. Harm Reduction Journal, 21, 118.
Delfabbro, P., King, D., Browne, M., & Dowling, N. (2020). Do EGMs have a stronger association with problem gambling than racing and casino table games? Evidence from a decade of Australian prevalence studies. Journal of Gambling Studies, 36, 499-511.
Engebø, J., Torsheim, T., & Pallesen, S. (2021). Regulatory measures’ effect on gambling participation: Experiences from Norway. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 672471.
Fong, T. (2005). The biopsychosocial consequences of pathological gambling. Psychiatry, 2(3), 22-30.
Forrest, R. (2025). Public health implications of the deregulation and privatization of online and sports gambling in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-025-01108-3
Håkansson, A. (2020). Changes in gambling behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic—A web survey study in Sweden. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 4013.
Håkansson, A., Fernández-Aranda, F., Menchón, J., Potenza, M., & Jiménez-Murcia, S. (2020). Gambling during the COVID-19 crisis: A cause for concern. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 14(4), e10-e12.
Håkansson, A., Karlsson, A., & Widinghoff, C. (2018). Primary and secondary diagnoses of gambling disorder and psychiatric comorbidity in the Swedish health care system—A nationwide register study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 426.
Håkansson, A., Sundvall, A., & Lyckberg, A. (2022). Effects of a national preventive intervention against potential COVID-19-related gambling problems in online gamblers: self-report survey study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(3), e33066.
Henderson, J. (2012). Developing and regulating casinos: The case of Singapore. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 12(3), 139-146.
Hofmarcher, T., Romild, U., Spångberg, J., Persson, U., & Håkansson, A. (2020). The societal costs of problem gambling in Sweden. BMC Public Health, 20, 1921.
Humphreys, B. (2021). Legalized sports betting, VLT gambling, and state gambling revenues: Evidence from West Virginia. Eastern Economic Journal, 47, 9-28.
Järvinen-Tassopoulos, J., Marionneau, V., & Egerer, M. (2024). Strengthening channeling policy: The Finnish approach to protecting domestic online gambling market. Frontiers in Sociology, 8, 1272735.
Khataev, I., & Margieva, M. (2020). Some criminal-legal characteristics of an illegal arrangement of gambling. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 113, 402-405.
Kuzmenko, O., Boyko, A., & Dotsenko, T. (2022). Risk of legalization of funds by bank clients from gambling conducted on the Internet: Approaches to measurement. Vìsnik Sumsʹkogo deržavnogo unìversitetu, 3, 31-41.
Langham, E., Thorne, H., Browne, M., Donaldson, P., Rose, J., & Rockloff, M. (2015). Understanding gambling related harm: A proposed definition, conceptual framework, and taxonomy of harms. BMC Public Health, 16, 80.
Lastra, R., Bell, P., & Bond, C. (2016). Sports betting-motivated corruption in Australia: An under-studied phenomenon. International Journal of Social Science Research, 4(1), 61-82.
Latvala, T., Lintonen, T., & Konu, A. (2019). Public health effects of gambling - debate on a conceptual model. BMC Public Health, 19, 1077.
Lee, D. (2016). Integrated resorts-Singapore’s answer to destination competitiveness?. Ph.D. Thesis, James Cook University.
Lilia, B., & Myroslava, H. (2025). Managing the economic changes caused by the war through the creation of gambling zone in Ukraine. Business Navigator, 2(79), 93-97.
Macey, J., Abarbanel, B., Castrén, S., Hamari, J., & Salonen, A. (2023). Public opinions and attitudes toward a state monopoly: A study of the Finnish gambling system. BMC Public Health, 23, 2012.
Marionneau, V., Luoma, E., Turowski, T., & Hayer, T. (2025). Limit-setting in online gambling: A comparative policy review of European approaches. Harm Reduction Journal, 22, 15.
Markham, F., Young, M., Doran, B., & Sugden, M. (2017). A meta-regression analysis of 41 Australian problem gambling prevalence estimates and their relationship to total spending on electronic gaming machines. BMC Public Health, 17, 495.
Mashinskaya, N. (2019). Issues of detecting and effective investigation of unlawful gambling organization and promoting. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 90, 241-244.
McCartney, G. (2016). Play the cards, roll the dice - The integration of casinos within Asian tourism destination development strategy. UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, 20(2), 119-140.
Molina-Fernández, A., Robert-Segarra, A., Martín-Herrero, J., Sánchez-Iglesias, I., Saiz-Galdós,J., & Fernández-Mora, K. (2023). Regulating gambling use through the Overton window: From an addictive behavior to a social and epidemiological problem. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(8), 5481.
Ng, D., & Austin, I. (2016). Integrated resorts and hotel (gambling) service enterprises in Singapore, Macau and Australia: The changing policy landscape. Asian Journal of Political Science, 24(1), 42-62.
Nichols, M., & Tosun, M. (2017). The impact of legalized casino gambling on crime. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 66, 1-15.
Nikkinen, J. (2024). Player tracking in itself may not be enough for efficient reduction of gambling harm, but combined with a personal gambling license could provide new possibilities to tracking gambling-related harm. Addiction, 119, 1168-1169
Nikkinen, J., & Marionneau, V. (2020). On the efficiency of Nordic state-controlled gambling companies. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 38(3), 212-226.
Oksanen, A., Sirola, A., Savolainen, I., Koivula, A., Kaakinen, M., Vuorinen, I., … & Paek, H. (2021). Social ecological model of problem gambling: A cross-national survey study of young people in the United States, South Korea, Spain, and Finland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 3220.
Ozer, G., Greenwood, B., & Gopal, A. (2025). Let it Ride! An Empirical Investigation of Problem Gambling and Legalized Online Sports Betting. Academy of Management Proceedings, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.18449abstract
Panakit, C. (2018). The effected of opening casino in Thailand in attitude of Crime Suspression Division Police. Integrated Social Science Journal, Mahidol University, 5(2), 83-107.
Petry, N., & Blanco, C. (2013). National gambling experiences in the United States: Will history repeat itself?. Addiction, 108(6), 1032-1037.
Phaksipaeng, I., & Sonsuphap, R. (2018). Illegal lottery: Income security in Thailand. National Defence Studies Institute Journal, 9(1), 82-96.
Prachatai. (2025). Legalizing casinos isn't worth the loss, as the law is lax. Academics suggest a referendum to start over. Retrieved from https://prachatai.com/journal/2025/04/112517.
Riley, B., Harvey, P., Crisp, B., Battersby, M., & Lawn, S. (2018). Gambling-related harm as reported by concerned significant others: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of empirical studies. Journal of Family Studies, 27(1), 112-130.
Rodda, S., Merkouris, S., & Dowling, N. (2024). Current approaches to the identification and management of gambling disorder: a narrative review to inform clinical practice in Australia and New Zealand. The Medical Journal of Australia, 221(9), 495-500.
Russell, G., Sterner, G. III, Kaye, M., & Ahlgren, M. (2024). Online gambling in Pennsylvania. International Gambling Studies, 24(2), 259-276.
Sperkach, N., & Kytun, A. (2019). Positive and negative aspects of legalization of gaming business in Ukraine. Actual Problems of Native Jurisprudence, 5, 161-165.
Sriprasert, W. (2018). Thai economic outlook: informal. Journal of Management Sciences Suratthani Rajabhat University, 1(1), 17-38.
Srisupan, P. (2023). Conceal but reveal, illegal but not against social norms: Views on gambling in Isan society. Journal of Social Sciences Naresuan University, 19(2), 147-174.
Susanto, B., Suhana, & Husain, A. (2024). Industrial online gambling as dangerous cyber crime in Indonesia. Jurnal Improsci, 2(1), 18-26.
Thompson, C. (2025). Comparing gambling policy evolution in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. International Journal of Public Administration, 48, 395-406.
Tohmangee, S., Poonyarith, S., Kanyajit, S., Rujiprak, V. (2024). The legalization of gambling in Thailand. Suan Dusit Graduate School Academic Journal, 20(2), 97-109.
Ukhova, D., Marionneau, V., Nikkinen, J., & Wardle, H. (2024). Public health approaches to gambling: A global review of legislative trends. The Lancet Public Health, 9, e57-e67.
Wang, C. (2014). Licensing VIP-room contractors or gaming promoters in Macao: The status quo and improvement. UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, 18(2), 105-112.
Wardle, H., Reith, G., Langham, E., & Rogers, R. (2019). Gambling and public health: We need policy action to prevent harm. BMJ, 365, l1807.
Wheaton, J., Ford, B., Nairn, A., & Collard, S. (2024). Towards a conceptual framework for the prevention of gambling-related harms: Findings from a scoping review. PLoS ONE, 19(3), e0298005.
Wohlenberg, E. (1992). Recent U.S. gambling legalization: A case study of lotteries. The Social Science Journal, 29(2), 167-183.
Xu, T., Grubbs, J., & Kraus, S. (2025). A longitudinal investigation of sports betting legalization’s influence on problem gambling. Addictive Behaviors, 170, 108448.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Puthisat NAMDECH, Kittisak WONGMAHESAK, Christian KAUNERT
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
.png)
