Is the Lottery Product an Inferior Good in Higher Income Countries?

Abstract

Do the populations of low per-capita income countries participate with a stronger desire to win and spend relatively more money on lottery products? Is such a desire to buy lottery products constant, or does it decrease when the country reaches a higher per-capita income class? To answer these questions, this paper uses econometric models with significant explanatory variables. The results confirm the hypothesis that the lower income-class countries spend more than the higher income-class countries. However, the results do not confirm the hypothesis that lottery products may be considered an inferior good in countries belonging to the higher per-capita income class. The results also show that for all countries, there is an inverted U relationship between per-capita sales and per-capita GDP and up to a specific value, the per-capita lottery sales decrease as per-capita GDP increases, becoming an inferior good as a result.