Problem gambling is becoming a growing concern in the United States because of the proliferation of, and state support for, gambling opportunities. The economic cost along with the physical and mental health problems associated with problem gambling make it necessary to study how problem gambling can be reduced. Our study examines whether financial literacy could be a means to reducing gambling frequency in the United States. We use data from the Preference Parameter Study of Osaka University, Japan, and apply instrumental variable probit regression models. The results show that, generally, financial literacy does not have a relationship with gambling frequency, but the relationship is significant in the states where electronic gambling machines (EGMs) are available. The results imply that gamblers are irrational and fail to assess the risks of gambling as well as the probabilities that maximize expected payoffs. It appears that gamblers’ psychological gain from gambling outweighs the negative expected utility when there is easy access to gambling. Thus, rationality with regard to gambling decisions does not work unless the easy access to EGMs is controlled. Our results further show that males, older people, people with higher household income, and people who have easy access to gambling are likely to be frequent gamblers.

由于赌博机会的扩散和国家对赌博机会的支持，问题赌博在美国正成为一个日益受到关注的问题。与问题赌博相关的经济成本以及身心健康问题使得有必要研究如何减少问题赌博。我们的研究检验了金融知识是否可以成为减少美国赌博频率的一种手段。我们使用来自日本大阪大学偏好参数研究的数据，并应用工具变量概率回归模型。结果表明，一般来说，金融知识与赌博频率没有关系，但在电子赌博机 (EGM) 可用的州，这种关系是显着的。结果表明赌徒是非理性的，他们无法评估赌博的风险以及最大化预期收益的概率。当容易获得赌博时，赌徒从赌博中获得的心理收益似乎超过了负面的预期效用。因此，除非控制对 EGM 的轻松访问，否则赌博决策的理性是行不通的。我们的研究结果进一步表明，男性、老年人、家庭收入较高的人和容易赌博的人可能是经常赌博的人。除非控制对 EGM 的便捷访问，否则赌博决策的理性是行不通的。我们的研究结果进一步表明，男性、老年人、家庭收入较高的人和容易赌博的人可能是经常赌博的人。除非控制对 EGM 的便捷访问，否则赌博决策的理性是行不通的。我们的研究结果进一步表明，男性、老年人、家庭收入较高的人和容易赌博的人可能是经常赌博的人。