Summary
My research interests encompass the economic, social, and behavioral impacts of gambling and risk taking, particularly casino gambling. My research has focused on a wide variety of topics including a comparative analysis of gambling regulation across various jurisdictions, the competitive consequences of expanding casino gambling and lottery, casino gambling and crime, casino gambling and public finance, and the analysis of casino gambling as a tool for economic development. Other topics I have explored include the impact of visiting team travel on NFL football game outcomes and betting markets and the elasticity of demand for marijuana. More recently, I have explored behavioral aspects of wagering, particularly the presence of biases and heuristics used by individual slot machine gamblers.
Courses Recently Taught
- ECON 103 Principles of Macroeconomics
- ECON 441 Introduction to Econometrics
- ECON 455 Industrial Organization
- ECON 495 Economic Research Seminar
- ECON 741 Applied Econometrics
- ECON 793 History of Economic Thought
Selected Publications
- Nichols, Mark W. and Tosun, Mehmet Serkan. "The Impact of Legalized Casino Gambling on Crime." Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2017, forthcoming. Davis, Adam J, Geisler, Karl R, and Nichols, Mark W. "The Price Elasticity of Marijuana Demand: Evidence from Crowd-Sourced Transaction Data."
- Davis, Adam J, Geisler, Karl R, and Nichols, Mark W. "The Price Elasticity of Marijuana Demand: Evidence from Crowd-Sourced Transaction Data." Empirical Economics, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2016, 1171-92. Geisler, Karl R., and Nichols, Mark W. "Riverboat Casino Gambling Impacts on Employment and Income in Host and Surrounding Communities."
- Geisler, Karl R., and Nichols, Mark W. "Riverboat Casino Gambling Impacts on Employment and Income in Host and Surrounding Communities." The Annals of Regional Science, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2016, 101-23. Nichols, Mark W., Tosun, Mehmet Serkan, and Yang Jingjing. "The Fiscal Impact of Legalized Casino Gambling."
- Nichols, Mark W., Tosun, Mehmet Serkan, and Yang Jingjing. "The Fiscal Impact of Legalized Casino Gambling." Public Finance Review, November 2015, 739-61. Nichols, Mark W. "The Impact of Visiting Team Travel on Game Outcome and Biases in NFL Betting Markets."
- Nichols, Mark W. "The Impact of Visiting Team Travel on Game Outcome and Biases in NFL Betting Markets." Journal of Sports Economics, 2012 Nichols, Mark W. and Tosun, Mehmet Serkan. "The Income Elasticity of Gross Casino Revenues: Short-Run and Long-Run Estimates."
- Nichols, Mark W. and Tosun, Mehmet Serkan. "The Income Elasticity of Gross Casino Revenues: Short-Run and Long-Run Estimates." National Tax Journal. Vol. 61, No. 4, Part 1, December 2008, 635-652. Garrett, Thomas A. and Nichols, Mark W. "Do Casinos Export Bankruptcy?"
- Garrett, Thomas A. and Nichols, Mark W. "Do Casinos Export Bankruptcy?" Journal of Socio-Economics." Vol. 37, 2008, 1481-1494.
- Giacopassi, David, Nichols, Mark W., and Stitt, B. Grant. "Voting for a Lottery." Public Finance Review, Vol. 34, January 2006, 80-100.
- Stitt, B. Grant, Mark W. Nichols, and David Giacopassi. "Does the Presence of Casinos Increase Crime?-An Examination of Casino and Control Jurisdictions." Crime & Delinquency, April 2003.
- Nichols, Mark W., B. Grant Stitt, and David Giacopassi. "Casino Gambling and Bankruptcy in New U.S. Casino Jurisdictions". Journal of Socio-Economics, Vol. 29. No 5., 2000, pp. 247-61
Education
- B.S., Economics, University of Central Florida, 1990
- Ph.D., Economics, Florida State University, 1994
Professional certifications
- Graduate Faculty Excellence in Teaching, College of Business, 2017
- Foundation Professor, University of Nevada, 2015
- Senior Scholar Mentor, 2013
- Graduate Faculty Excellence in Teaching, College of Business, 2012