Macao's Gaming Research Articles

New developments in Macao's gaming public policy: implications and effectiveness

PurposeThis paper examines the changes in Macao's gaming public policy following the 2022 revision of the gaming law. The revision introduces more regulations on the gaming industry and highlights the gaming industry's contribution to economic diversification, anti-money laundering and national security. The paper analyzes the economic, cultural and political factors that motivated these changes and evaluates the effectiveness of the new gaming public policy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper compares the different versions of Macao's gaming laws and the gaming laws of Nevada and New Jersey, using a qualitative approach to interpret the meanings behind the law text.FindingsThe paper reveals that Macao's gaming public policy has changed significantly. The revised policy focuses more on economic diversification than the growth of the gaming industry and imposes more responsibilities on the gaming operators. It predicts that Macao's gaming industry will face more difficulties in increasing its market share in the next decade.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper can help the Macao government assess its gaming public policy and other governments learn from the complex situation when developing their public policies.Social implicationsThe findings of this paper can enhance the understanding of Macao's gaming laws and the reality of Macao's gaming industry.Originality/valueThis paper is the first in academia to address Macao's new public policy toward gaming.

Effects of equity, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction on organizational commitment in Macao's gaming industry

PurposeThis study explores the relationships between equity, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and counterproductive work behavior in Macao's gaming industry. Additionally, it investigates whether the Covid-19 outbreak has effects on employees' perceptions and behaviors.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from two surveys using convenience sampling, one involving 260 casino employees in 2019 and another involving 250 employees in 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19.FindingsNo significant difference was observed between mean scores from respondents in the first and second surveys on job equity, pay equity, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction (p > 0.05). However, significant changes were found in mean scores for three organizational commitment items (negative changes; p < 0.05) and three counterproductive work behavior items (positive changes; p < 0.05). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that job equity and pay equity affected perceived organizational support and job satisfaction while perceived organizational support impacted organizational commitment directly and indirectly through job satisfaction, all with R2 values greater than 0.6. Organizational commitment negatively influenced counterproductive work behavior.Research limitations/implicationsThe Covid-19 impact on casino employees' perceptions and behaviors was contingent upon the duration of pandemic.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first empirical studies to integrate social exchange theory and equity theory to organizational commitment in Macao's gaming industry. Job equity and pay equity were found to influence organizational commitment through perceived organizational support and job satisfaction. Additionally, the Covid-19 did not have significant effects on employees' equity, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction perceptions.

Review and Prospect of Macao Gaming Tourism Research 澳門博彩旅遊研究的綜述與展望

Review and Prospect of Macao Gaming Tourism Research 澳門博彩旅遊研究的綜述與展望

Macao Gaming Concession System: Present and Future Direction

Macao gaming concession is about to expire in June 2022, and such issues as the number of concessions and contract period have attracted much attention. This article introduces the evolution of Macao gaming system with emphasis on its concession duration, legal limit on the number of concessions, asset disposal and tax rate. As a result of its gaming liberalization, Macao has developed into the world’s casino capital. The gaming situation in Macao and in the gaming jurisdictions nearby is different from what it was twenty years ago. Although the current law requires a new public tender for awarding concessions, the increased number of gaming jurisdictions to target Macao would entail adjustment in its public policies to keep its gaming industry competitive. Additionally, the evolution of the relevant public policies and their interactions with touristic, infrastructural, environmental and urban planning policies would likely lead to some changes in the core of the current Macao gaming legislation. The authors indicated that the emergence of subconcessions and satellite casinos, the fractioning of spaces and utilities by different entities regarding asset reversion to the government, and the relationship between concessionaires and junket operators are some major issues, which require an improved legal framework designed to react expeditiously and effectively to the fast-moving industry for a sustained and consistent upward regulatory trajectory. Following this, revising and improving the current concession model would be crucial, even though it implies changes to the core of the current Macao gaming legislation.

The impact of social support on job stress of shift working mothers: a study of casino employees in Macao

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory understanding of the impact of social support on job stress of shift working mothers in Macao casinos.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research method was adopted in this study. A snowball sampling strategy was used to recruit participants, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted on participants from different casinos of six Macao gaming operators.FindingsThe paper found out that emotional and instrumental supports from families and friends are the most important social support for shift working mothers to cope with their job stress in casinos.Research limitations/implicationsA qualitative method may lead to a misinterpretation or ignorance of key information due to the researcher bias. The snowball sampling strategy may lead to a biased sample which may not represent the entire population.Originality/valueThe understanding of what types of social support that shift working mothers appreciate and need the most may provide managerial implications for casino operators for a better support to their female employees.

Macao's gaming credit practices: 15 years after the gaming credit law

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of Macao's gaming credit practices with reference to its promulgation of the gaming credit law after its gaming liberalization.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with casino executives, government officials and gamblers to probe their perspectives on Macao's gaming credit practices was adopted due to its underresearched nature. Documentary analysis of annual reports and court files was also used.FindingsDespite the potential of increased revenue with more credit, the credit risk for gaming concessionaires remained under control, while VIP-rooms and junket operators have adopted more prudent policy and faced substantial challenge in credit collection. All these would lead to greater alignment with law-based credit practices.Research limitations/implicationsSince gaming credit information was considered confidential, the author experienced difficulty in arranging the interviews, and the nonprobability sampling characterized by the selection bias might affect the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings have demonstrated some major credit practices such as credit charges on credit balances and terms and conditions for repayment for different credit providers in Macao.Originality/valueThe different credit practices by credit providers at different levels of gaming credit have been presented in the same paper.

Regulating Macao's casino gaming: two decades of development and prospects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review Macao's gaming regulation from 2001, when competition was introduced into the gaming market, to the present and discuss the potential methods to improve the regulatory system in the future.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts the qualitative approach, investigating and studying the contents, changes and enforcement of the gaming legislations.FindingsThe gaming regulation in Macao has made great progress in the past two decades. Before 2001, the gaming market was monopolized, and the gaming regulation was merely a concession system. Law No. 16/2001, together with the other laws and regulations promulgated later, established a regulatory framework containing rules of suitability check, casino entry, competition, internal control, gaming promotion, credit gaming and antimoney laundering. The implementation of the rules has also drawn attention of the international community.Originality/valueThis paper reviews the gaming regulation in Macao in all its major aspects for the first time and argues that a framework of gaming regulation has been established in Macao although it needs to be improved.

Translating for a healthier gaming industry

This article conducts a corpus-based critical discourse analysis of keywords and their translations in Macao’s gaming discourse, with an aim to explore the impact of translation on the construction of gaming discourse and the development of the gaming industry in Macao from 1999 to 2011, the first decade following the region’s sovereignty handover. The corpus consists of texts from 2000 to 2011 concerning three public sectors in Macao: local government, academia and the media. The study finds diachronic as well as synchronic changes in the distribution and translation of certain keywords in the corpus. It argues that shifts in the keyword terminology being used, such as from ‘gambling’ to ‘gaming,’ aim at framing the Macao gaming industry in specific social developmental ways. It also argues that translation plays a crucial role in the construction of a new gaming discourse.

Explaining urban economic governance: The City of Macao

This paper traces the root causes of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government's inability to regulate the city's major economic issues. This regulatory deficiency can be partly attributed to the city's 500years of Portuguese colonial rule, although some of the problems have been caused by the casino boom, which began with the liberalization of Macao's gaming industry, and the government's failure to cope with ensuing dramatic changes. From a historical and institutional perspective, the author illustrates and analyzes the dynamic relationship between economic regulation and urban politics on a rapidly growing urban island facing various governance challenges.

An Assessment of the Human Resources Challenges of Macao's Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition (MICE) Industry

In 2012, 13 years after its handover back to China, Macao's gaming industry revenue had surpassed the gross gaming revenues from all of the United States’ commercial casinos. Since gaming liberalization in 2002, Macao has become increasingly reliant on this industry. Macao's tourism industry was generating over 80% of its public revenue by 2012 and mostly from gaming. With increasing calls to diversify Macao's tourism beyond gaming, this article examined opinions from experts connected to the emerging meeting, incentive, convention, and exhibition (MICE) sector. The research revealed that present human resources challenges were a notable obstacle to the further development of this industry and ultimately to the diversification of Macao's economy. Highlighting the challenges and integrating comments from industry experts, the article also provided implications and suggestions to move the MICE industry forward.

Energy and carbon emission review for Macao's gaming industry

Energy consumption and CO2 emissions caused by gaming industry have never been explored, while gaming industry across the world has experienced considerable development. To fill this blank, a comprehensive analysis based on systems accounting is conducted in this study for embodied energy consumption and CO2 emissions by gaming industry, the backbone of Macao's economy. The results reveal that the total embodied energy consumption by Macao's pillar industry increases by about 1.5 times from 2005 to 2010 while the energy intensity decreases by more than a quarter. The trends of overall CO2 emissions and emission intensity are in parallel to those of total energy consumption and energy intensity. It is also noted that as a service industry, indirect energy consumption and emissions induced by gaming is an order of magnitude larger than those based on direct accounting. As to the energy and emission structures, energy consumption and emissions caused by operating inputs is the largest contributor to both overall energy consumption and emissions. The results also indicate that for gaming industry's energy and emission issues, the relative importance of commission is increasing while that of goods purchased is decreasing. Appreciable energy saving and emissions reduction potential is also discussed against the background of Macao's urgent need for gaming industry's sustainable development.

Changes in the junket business in Macao after gaming liberalization

Before Macao's gaming liberalization, people from Macao and Hong Kong took the active lead as junket operators to entice high-betting gamblers from neighbouring places. With the People's Republic of China as the dominating source of visitors to Macao, there have been some changes in the junket business. The qualitative research interview was adopted due to the under-researched nature of the junket business. This study is based on the institutional theory to analyse human interactions and activities structured in terms of overt or implicit rules involved in the junket business in Macao. A review of the literature and interview findings indicates that the active role played by local people appears to have diminished. As junket activities like patron recruitment and gambling debt collection are primarily conducted in Mainland China, together with the business opportunities from gambling and junket operators' preference for working with ethnically homogeneous groups, the previous active role played by local people is gradually being replaced by the Mainland Chinese. The junket business in Macao has been under the increasing influence of the Mainland Chinese. Based upon this, Macao needs to consider how to better regulate these junket operators.

Effect of Internal Market Orientation on Organizational Performance: The Case of Macao's Gaming Industry

This study examined the effect of internal market orientation (IMO) on organizational performance, including employee job satisfaction, perceived customer satisfaction, and relative competitive position. Using responses from 220 employees in the gaming industry, a factor analysis was performed to determine the underlying structure of the IMO items and path analyses were used to determine the relationships among variables. The path analysis results showed that IMO was positively related to employee job satisfaction while employee job satisfaction was positively related to perceived customer satisfaction, then to relative competitive position. Moreover, external measures, such as positive reports of corporate reputation in the mass media and positive change in market share, were found to be positively associated with perceived customer satisfaction. Based on the findings, management in the hospitality industry can realize the importance of formal and informal communications—two core elements of IMO and how they are related to organizational performance.

Hidden injuries of class and bourgeoisie dreams: Casino workers, traditional shipbuilders and boutique hotels in Macao

With more than US$15 billion invested in Macao's gaming industry between 2005 and 2010 for the creation of world-class casinos, theatres, theme parks and luxury shopping malls, intense casino development transformed Macao's urban landscape. Much is said about Macao's astonishing rate of tourist arrivals and staggering gross domestic product in the last four years as a combined result of longstanding casino tourism and nascent World Heritage tourism in the 29.5-sq km postcolonial territory. Less is known about its 500,000 residents and workers. Building upon existing work that interrogates the salient connection between the self and class position of workers, I examine the 'hidden injuries of class' or the difficulties for the individual worker in terms of achieving dignity and respect in capitalistic Macao. Specifically, drawing upon life and work history interviews with former traditional shipbuilders and casino workers, I examine both pre-casino and casino Macao's class experiences and relations. In doing so, I seek to relate the present with the past and illustrate how the building of Macao's bourgeoisie dreams in forms of the territory's pursuit of casino resorts and boutique hotels brought about 'hidden injuries of class' for two different generations of Macao proletariats.

Casino Taxation in Macao: An Economic Perspective

Macao's gaming industry has experienced dramatic growth for 8years, yet with certain social costs due to compulsive gambling. The government has come under pressure for tax cuts even though its gaming receipts are falling relatively to the casino retained revenue. The request for tax relief is triggered by a recent decline in net profit despite fast growing gross gaming revenue under favorable market conditions. This is very likely caused by a substantial hike in casino operating costs due to increased competition and might also signal the presence of the principal-agent problem. Given the regressivity of gaming tax with respect to net profit, it is no surprise that casinos with lower profitability are more prone to seek tax cuts. The source of Macao gaming profit hinges on three distinct factors: rising demand from China, monopoly location for casinos, and market structure of oligopoly. These factors provide economic justifications for the current tax regime of Macao with a strong ability to pass tax burdens on to massive visitors. The government relies on casino tax revenue to deal with gambling related problems and promote local diversified development. Pushing for tax variability may create policy instability, business uncertainty, and unpredictable prosperity in the long term.

Drivers of job satisfaction as related to work performance in Macao casino hotels

PurposeThis paper sets out to examine the relationship between work performance and job satisfaction in Macao's casino hotels and to attempt to determine how job satisfaction may be enhanced to improve work performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted among Macao casino hotels' employees to collect data on work performance and job satisfaction. Coefficients of correlations were computed to determine the relationship between the two. Job satisfaction drivers were identified through backward stepwise regression analysis.FindingsMediocre interpersonal skills are the major weakness of the labor force and job satisfaction is significantly correlated with job performance. Training opportunities, salaries and benefits, and support from colleagues and superiors are significant drivers of job satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper used convenience sampling and the survey was not exhaustive to include all possible job satisfaction drivers. Also, social desirability bias may exist in the employee survey. Future research should use probability sampling, if possible, and include more potential job satisfaction variables to find out how employee job satisfaction may be maximized. Furthermore, a study based on customer survey is desired for examining Macao casino workforce performance. While the findings are applicable to Macao casino hotels, they do provide evidence from the gaming industry to support the theory on job satisfaction drivers. The findings may also carry important implications for gaming jurisdictions with low incomes such as those in East Europe and Southeast Asia.Practical implicationsThe study provides an assessment of the Macao casino hotel workers' performance and job satisfaction and offers useful insights on how work performance and job satisfaction may be improved. On‐the‐job training is proposed for the industry to boost job satisfaction and work performance.Originality/valueLabor force performance has been a concern for the Macao gaming industry but has been thinly researched. The paper identifies problems in work performance as related to job satisfaction and proposes solutions. The identified solutions should help improve job satisfaction and workforce performance for Macao casino hotels.

The CAT (Casino Tourism) and the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions): Key Development Considerations for the Convention and Exhibition Industry in Macao

ABSTRACT In 2006, Macao became the world's leading gaming destination in terms of gaming revenue and by mid 2008 had surpassed the gaming revenues of Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined. Casino tourism (CAT) in Macao continues to grow, but with the opening of The Venetian, the first integrated resort on the Cotai Strip,1 convention and exhibition-based tourism is beginning to emerge. Due to its lure of being a high-yield tourism sector, MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) tourism has been increasingly introduced at destinations, including gaming jurisdictions such as Las Vegas. Yet, Macao's gaming industry for the greater part remains divorced from the need for a convention product in terms of revenue creation at present, with two models of gaming development emerging. It is a key aim of the Macao Government to develop Macao into a major leisure and entertainment center, widening and expanding its tourism market segment beyond gaming. The MICE sector has therefore become an increasingly important focus and direction of resources for the Macao Government. Macao, though, is faced with the challenge of changing traveler perceptions of the destination from being solely a gaming destination to that of additionally being an attractive convention and exhibition destination image. Macao is also entering a regional market with mature and leading MICE destinations. This article examines strategic planning and management considerations for Macao as it attempts to reposition itself to develop the MICE industry in the world's most lucrative gaming market. Highlighted are the challenges in re-branding and repositioning Macao, economic justification, and tourism policy considerations on issues such as infrastructure development to support this vision of the Macao Government and those of the newly integrated resorts emerging on Macao's Cotai Strip.

The VIP-Room Contractual System and Macao's Traditional Casino Industry

This study provides a systematic analysis of the VIP-room contractual system of Macao's traditional casino industry. It examines the system's historical background, its organisational structure, and its operational mechanisms. The evolving and likely future changes in the VIP sector — as well as the mass market sector — caused by the liberalisation of Macao's gaming laws in 2001 are examined. The dynamics of the allocation of business between the VIP sector and mass market sector are examined in the context of underlying economic and cultural forces. A major conclusion of this analysis is that the VIP-room contractual system that evolved in Macao's casino industry from the 1980s until the current decade is already undergoing significant change in the new legal and competitive environment. There are already signs that it is being replaced by new systems consistent with competitive realities. However, Macao's VIP business will likely continue as an important component of the market in one form or another.

Changes in Residents' Gambling Attitudes and Perceived Impacts at the Fifth Anniversary of Macao's Gaming Deregulation

This article follows on an earlier study conducted on Macao residents' gambling attitudes and behavior when the local gaming industry deregulated in 2002. The objective is to examine if gambling attitudes and behavior have changed in the lapse of five years as gaming becomes more accessible. Results show that the respondents in 2007 had developed a more conservative attitude toward gambling in general. The same trend was observed among players and nonplayers. Three factors of perceived gaming impacts were found to influence overall gambling attitude. It was also found that table and slot games had increased in popularity and were replacing the more common forms of gambling prior to 2002. Implications for education, well-being of the society, public policies, and tourism destination theories are discussed.

Congress Makes Sausages

Gaming Law ReviewVol. 11, No. 1 Gambling and the Law®Congress Makes SausagesI. Nelson RoseI. Nelson RoseSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:22 Feb 2007https://doi.org/10.1089/glr.2006.11101AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byPerformance driven outcomes—the case of frontline employees in the hospitality sector25 June 2018 | Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 28, No. 1Role of Internal Marketing on Employees’ Perceived Job Performance in an Asian Integrated Resort18 September 2015 | Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 25, No. 5Human resource management, services and relationship marketing: the potential for cross-fertilisation21 January 2015 | Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 23, No. 6Quality of work life and job satisfaction among frontline hotel employeesInternational Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 27, No. 5Relationships Among Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover of Casino Employees in Macau30 April 2014 | Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 24, No. 4Can a socially responsible casino better retain its management staff? From an internal customer perspectiveAsia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 26, No. 4With or Without You? Building a Case for Further MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions) Development in Macao8 August 2014 | Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, Vol. 15, No. 3Minding the gap in the gaming industryInternational Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 26, No. 1Effect of Internal Market Orientation on Organizational Performance: The Case of Macao's Gaming IndustryInternational Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, Vol. 14, No. 3Work Stress Among Casino Industry Supervisors in Macao CasinosInternational Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, Vol. 14, No. 2Internal Marketing: Exploring the Impact of Cultural and Language Issues6 February 2013Examining the impacts of community and organization embeddedness on self-initiated expatriates: the moderating role of expatriate-dominated private sectorThe International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 23, No. 20Working in Macau Casinos: The Perceptions of Hong Kong Tertiary Students Majoring in HospitalityAsia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 14, No. 4Casino customers in Asian versus western gaming jurisdictionsWorldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 1, No. 4Optimising the internal value chain: Principles and practicesJournal of Management & Organization, Vol. 14, No. 2Gambling and the Law®: Regulators Punt on Proposed Internet Gaming Regulations I. Nelson Rose26 February 2008 | Gaming Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 1The Incredible Shrinking Opposition: Rationales for the U.S. I-Gaming Jihad Grow Weaker Despite New Prohibition Laws Martin D. Owens25 June 2007 | Gaming Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 3 Volume 11Issue 1Feb 2007 InformationMary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:I. Nelson Rose.Congress Makes Sausages.Gaming Law Review.Feb 2007.1-3.http://doi.org/10.1089/glr.2006.11101Published in Volume: 11 Issue 1: February 22, 2007PDF download