Residents' perceptions of casino impacts: A comparative study

The primary purpose of this study was to explore differences in residents' perceptions of casino development between South Korea and Colorado. The communities surveyed are former depressed mining areas with significant historic characteristics. The secondary purpose was to investigate whether social exchange theory is appropriate to explain residents' perceptions of the impact of casinos on community support for casino development. In general, three factors of residents' perceptions and support were found to be significantly different between the two study sites. Furthermore, the effects of positive social impact on benefits, of both positive social impact and negative environmental impact on support, and the benefit factor on support level were significantly different between the two data collection areas. The study findings support the appropriateness of social exchange theory in explaining residents' responses in both study areas. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.