@article{6bb59ef04fe94e51ad730545cd6b44fe,
title = "Cognitive abilities, non-cognitive skills, and gambling behaviors",
abstract = "This paper examines the effects of cognitive abilities and non-cognitive skills on gambling behaviors in Australia. We use the scores for three cognitive functioning tasks as measures of cognitive abilities. Locus of control and the Big Five personality traits are used as measures of non-cognitive skills. We find that cognitive abilities affect both gambling participation and problem gambling. While locus of control does not affect people's participation in gambling, gambling participants with strong internal locus of control are less likely to become a problem gambler than those with external locus of control. We also show that personality traits are important factors for both gambling participation and problem gambling. There is also evidence that both cognitive and non-cognitive skills affect gamblers{\textquoteright} choice between skill-and-chance gambling and pure-chance gambling. Our findings seem to support the view that market imperfection could at least explain some individuals{\textquoteright} participation in gambling.",
keywords = "Cognitive abilities, Gambling behaviors, Locus of control, Personality traits",
author = "Xiaodong Gong and Rong Zhu",
note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to the Editor (Daniel Houser) and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. Rong Zhu acknowledges the financial support by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project (ARC LP170100718). This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either DSS or the Melbourne Institute.? We are grateful to the Editor (Daniel Houser) and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. Rong Zhu acknowledges the financial support by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project ( ARC LP170100718). This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either DSS or the Melbourne Institute. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2019",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1016/j.jebo.2019.06.016",
language = "English",
volume = "165",
pages = "51--69",
journal = "Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization",
issn = "0167-2681",
publisher = "Elsevier",
}