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  • October 2021
  • Article
  • World Bank Economic Review

Changing Gambling Behavior through Experiential Learning

By: Shawn A. Cole, Martin Abel and Bilal Zia
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Abstract

This paper tests experiential learning as a debiasing tool to reduce gambling in South Africa, through a randomized field experiment. The study implements a simple, interactive game that simulates the odds of winning the national lottery through dice rolling. Participants first roll one die until they obtain a six, followed by two dice until they roll 2 sixes. They are then informed that the probability of winning the lottery jackpot is equivalent to rolling all sixes with nine dice. The results show that individuals who need many attempts to roll 2 sixes play the lottery significantly less than the control group, while those who need fewer attempts adopt the opposite behavior. These findings provide practical guidance for designing interventions to give individuals brief experiences that correct biases in their beliefs.

Keywords

Debiasing; Experiential Learning; Behavioral Economics; Financial Education; Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Behavior; Decision Making

Citation

Cole, Shawn A., Martin Abel, and Bilal Zia. "Changing Gambling Behavior through Experiential Learning." World Bank Economic Review 35, no. 3 (October 2021): 745–763.
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About The Author

Shawn A. Cole

Finance
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More from the Authors
  • Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
  • Targeting Weather Insurance Markets By: Anita Mukherjee, Shawn Cole and Jeremy Tobacman
  • Studying the U.S.-Based Portfolio Companies of U.S. Impact Investors By: M. Diane Burton, Gurveen Chadha, Shawn A. Cole, Abhishek Dev, Christina Jarymowycz, Leslie Jeng, Laura Kelley, Josh Lerner, Jaime R. Diaz Palacios, Yue (Cynthia) Xu and T. Robert Zochowski
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