Participation and expenditure of migrants in the illegal lottery in China’s Pearl River Delta

Abstract

Using a unique data-set from the Pearl River Delta in China, we examine the factors associated with rural-urban migrants' participation in and expenditure on illegal gambling. The characteristics that have the largest marginal effects on participation and expenditure are gender, whether one also participates in the legal lottery and playing mahjong and other card games. Of the variables specific to the migration experience, we find that living in a factory dormitory increases the probability of participating in the illegal lottery, and that migrants who are unwilling to give up their farmland are less likely to participate in the illegal lottery. We also find that having a network of female friends is negatively correlated with participation in the illegal lottery. However, other variables specific to migrants, such as willingness to obtain a local hukou and remittances, were found to have an insignificant effect on participation.

The impact of gambling on rural communities worldwide: A narrative literature review.

“…The existence of illegal gambling in rural areas is well documented (Desierto, Nye, & Pamintuan, 2011; McElwee, Smith, & Somerville, 2014). Both crime and rising prostitution are reported in a number of countries connected to both legal and illegal gambling activity (Cheng, Smyth, & Sun, 2013; Richard, Blaszczynski, & Nower, 2014; Xiang, 2012). There is a large illegal gambling market reported in Vietnam, which is further complicated by extensive money laundering by organized crime syndicates known as the “Black Society” (Le, 2013).…”

“…Rural areas are often the target of organized crime, which introduce illegal gambling events and combine it with other vices, such as prostitution (Desierto et al, 2011; McElwee et al, 2014). Rural gamblers themselves turn to crime to gamble or to pay off gambling debts (Cheng et al, 2013). Access to help is problematic in rural areas (Humphreys & Lee, 2010; Park & Stokowski, 2009).…”

“…There has been a rise in legal gambling on the Vietnam and Chinese border to capitalize on the growing desire for gambling by wealthy Chinese visitors who are not legally able to gamble in their own country (Wah, 2008). Also, it is reported that many rural residents in China turn to crime to fund their gambling (Cheng et al, 2013). Throughout Southern Africa, women are used to collect illegal gambling losses across borders (Hübschle, 2014).…”

Migration, mobility, and community change in Chinese cities: introducing the special issue

“…Loneliness, lack of social support, freedom from surveillance by parents, spouses, and older-generation kin in the home village, and persuasion from peers are all contributing factors to migrants' propensity to gamble and participate in other socially unsanctioned, if not illegal, behaviors that are likely to keep them at the bottom of the society. The paper by Cheng, Smyth, and Sun (2015) examines migrants' participation in the illegal lottery in the Pearl River Delta, based on a survey conducted in 2006. It shows that most of the participants in illegal gambling are males living in factory dormitories.…”

Wellbeing in China

“…One of the features of China's growth experience has been the household registration (hukou) system, which has restricted the rights of rural-urban migrants in Chinese cities. Several studies have examined various aspects of hukou status for the wellbeing of rural-urban migrants (Afridi et al 2015;Cheng et al 2014a;Jiang et al 2012;Zhang and Treiman 2013).…”