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2. City of Vice: Macau, Gambling, and Organized Crime in China
- Author:
- Martin Purbrick
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- China Brief
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- In November 2021 and January 2022, the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) Judiciary Police arrested 13 individuals involved in operating two separate casino VIP customer “junkets” for engaging in illegal gambling activities, running a criminal syndicate, and money laundering (Macau Judiciary Police, November 29, 2021; January 31). The criminal groups used their VIP junket business in Macau casinos to recruit mainland Chinese residents to engage in illegal online gambling on overseas platforms, and illicit side-betting. The proceeds of the syndicate were then laundered and transferred through the junket accounts of the casinos using underground banks. These developments underscore how gambling in Macau has grown from small beginnings, as tolerant Portuguese administrators did not want to unduly antagonize local Chinese, to a multi-billion dollar business that has been infiltrated by organized crime groups for much of its modern history. During Portuguese rule (1557–1999) Macau was described as the “city of the name God,” hosting the religious orders of St. Augustine, St. Dominic, and St. Francis, as well as convents and Catholic churches (Cultural Affairs Bureau, Macau Government). In the 20th century, Macau became a city of vice as casino gambling emerged as the dominant business, supported by related prostitution, money lending, and money laundering from mainland China. After the return of sovereignty and administration from Portugal to China in 1999, Macau has had extraordinary economic success and relative political stability compared to the neighboring Hong Kong SAR. Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose from $6.458 billion in 1999 to $45,103 billion in 2016 at average annual growth rate of 12 percent. This economic growth, however, has been increasingly dominated by the gambling sector, which in 2013 accounted for over 60 percent of GDP. Casino “gross gambling revenue” in Macau has surpassed Las Vegas and the city is effectively the world’s largest gambling center. [1] However, as the gambling sector has grown, so has the organized crime long associated with that business that has become a domestic problem for China and has impacted other countries in Asia. A particular concern for Beijing is the Macau gambling industry’s role in facilitating capital flight.
- Topic:
- Law Enforcement, Borders, Gambling, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Macau
3. Myanmar’s Casino Cities: The Role of China and Transnational Criminal Networks
- Author:
- Jason Tower and Priscilla Clapp
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Seeking to profit from China's lucrative but illegal gambling market, a shady web of actors has begun building resort cities in Myanmar’s Karen State to cater to Chinese gamblers. This report casts light on the actors behind Myanmar’s illegal gambling sector, their linkages to Chinese government entities and to Myanmar's armed groups and military, and how their actions could upend Myanmar’s prospects for peace.
- Topic:
- Crime, Economics, Transnational Actors, Gambling, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar
4. Impact of Illegal Gambling in Hong Kong
- Author:
- Andrew Tessler
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxford Economics
- Abstract:
- Gambling is a regulated market in Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) being the only authorised operator. However, a substantial illegal market, exists alongside the legal market. This report examines the social and economic harms which illegal gambling imposes on Hong Kong. Using survey evidence it finds that illegal gamblers tend to include a high proportion of excessive gamblers amidst their ranks, and therefore tend to be more susceptible to the social harms (e.g. debt, bankruptcy, family problems) that excessive gambling brings. In addition, it explores the financial and economic implications of reducing the size of the illegal gambling market.
- Topic:
- Markets, Regulation, Gambling, and Illegal Trade
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Hong Kong
5. Better Knowledge Need Not Affect Behavior: A Randomized Evaluation on the Demand for Lottery Tickets in Rural Thailand
- Author:
- Juliane Zenker, Andreas Wagener, and Sebastian Vollmer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Despite the poor odds, low-income households in rural Thailand spend significant amounts on tickets of the Thai Government Lottery. One explanation might be that, due to lack of information about the properties of the game, the prospects of winning are upwardly biased. This would imply that an improved understanding of the actual odds should curb the demand for lottery tickets. We test this hypothesis in a randomized-controlled experiment in which we informed treated participants about the probability distribution of the Thai Government Lottery. The intervention leads to more precise perceptions of the lottery’s probability distribution. However, the willingness to pay for lottery tickets is not affected by this better knowledge. Non-cognitive aspects apparently play a more important role for participation decisions.
- Topic:
- Poverty, Randomized Controlled Trials, Gambling, and Information Intervention
- Political Geography:
- Thailand and Southeast Asia