International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) 10.30845/ijhss

Relationship between Misery Index and Lottery Games: The Case of Turkey
Süleyman Emre Özcan, Sezgin Açıkalın

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify whether individuals are depressed with inflation and got worsening expectations due to rising unemployment and interest rates try to compensate their worsening situation by an increased tendency to play lottery games. Therefore, we examine the relationship between misery index and lottery games for Turkey over the period of 2005 and 2013. When calculating misery index, we use inflation, unemployment and interest rates due to the absence of monthly GDP data. Johansen co-integration and Granger Causality tests indicate that individuals react to bad economic performance with playing more lottery games.

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