The Impact of Casino Gambling on Charitable Contributions: The Willingness to Contribute to a Local Public Television Station

This study examines factors that influence Las Vegas residents' willingness to pay (WTP) to maintain public television programming locally. Though previous research has investigated WTP for public television, this study is unique in that it examines the impact of casino gambling on giving. A mail survey with two follow-ups yielded 1,054 surveys-880 surveys provided complete information on the variables used in two analyses, 557 in a third. Statistically significant effects were found in models estimated with Tobit models; however, we failed to find a significant reduction in contributions to public television with higher levels of gambling behavior.