NATIONAL LOTTERY PRIVATIZATION IN EUROPE What can Finland learn from the privatization efforts of other EU countries? Jenni Huttunen Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Rita Buckley Date of submission: 8th of April 2020 Declaration By completing this cover sheet and declaration, I confirm that this assignment is my own work, is not copied from the work (published or unpublished) of any other person, and has not previously been submitted for assessment either at Aalto University, or another educational establishment. Any direct or indirect uses of material (e.g.: text, visuals, ideas…) from other sources have been fully acknowledged and cited according to the conventions of the Harvard Referencing System. NATIONAL LOTTERY PRIVATIZATION IN EUROPE What can Finland learn from the privatization efforts of other EU countries? Jenni Huttunen Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Rita Buckley Date of submission: 8th of April 2020 Declaration By completing this cover sheet and declaration, I confirm that this assignment is my own work, is not copied from the work (published or unpublished) of any other person, and has not previously been submitted for assessment either at Aalto University, or another educational establishment. Any direct or indirect uses of material (e.g.: text, visuals, ideas…) from other sources have been fully acknowledged and cited according to the conventions of the Harvard Referencing System. AALTO UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BACHELOR’S THESIS Mikkeli Campus Author: Jenni Huttunen Title of thesis: National lottery privatization in Europe – What can Finland learn from the privatization efforts of other EU countries? Date: 8 April 2020 Degree: Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration Supervisor: Rita Buckley Objectives The main objectives of this study were to assess how European countries have privatized their national lotteries and whether these privatization processes could be useful for Finland, if Finland were to privatize its national lottery. Summary This thesis discusses the privatization of Danish, French, and Swedish national lotteries and assesses how successful these privatizations have been. Sweden, France, and Denmark have all implemented a license-based system, which has increased the revenue from gambling, as taxation has been introduced. These systems also reduce gambling related harm, as monitoring authorities can regulate all licensed lotteries. Conclusions This thesis concludes that the Swedish model of national lottery privatization, in which the market moves from monopoly-based system to a license-based system would be the best for Finland. This thesis also concludes that Finland should form an independent authority to monitor and regulate the Finnish gambling market to remove any conflicts of interests that currently exist. Key words: National lottery, privatization, gambling, monopoly, Veikkaus Language: English Grade: Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background info on Finnish national lottery and debate surrounding it .......................... 1 1.2. Research questions ........................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Research objectives ........................................................................................................ 3 1.4. Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................... 4 1.5. Definitions of terms used in the research ....................................................................... 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 7 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1. Privatization ............................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2. National lottery .......................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Privatization ................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.1. Politics of privatization ............................................................................................... 9 2.2.2. Effects of privatization on national economy ............................................................ 10 2.2.3. Effects of privatization on the enterprise ................................................................. 11 2.2.4. Privatization and employment ................................................................................. 12 2.3. National lotteries ......................................................................................................... 13 2.3.1. Who partakes in a lottery? ....................................................................................... 13 2.3.2. Benefits of national lotteries .................................................................................... 14 2.3.3. Criticisms of national lotteries .................................................................................. 15 2.4. Privatization of national lotteries ................................................................................. 15 2.4.1. Privatization ............................................................................................................. 15 2.4.2. Monopoly privatization ............................................................................................ 16 2.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 17 3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 19 4. FINDINGS ................................................................................................................. 20 4.1. Lotteries in European Union ......................................................................................... 20 4.2. The French case ............................................................................................................ 21 4.3. The Danish case ........................................................................................................... 22 4.4. The Swedish case ......................................................................................................... 23 4.4.1. Lottery in Sweden prior to privatization ................................................................... 24 4.4.2. Svenska Spel ............................................................................................................ 25 4.4.3. Svenska Spel’s social responsibility .......................................................................... 27 4.4.4. Privatization process ................................................................................................ 29 4.4.5. Swedish lottery post privatization ............................................................................ 32 4.4.6. Lottery income ......................................................................................................... 33 5. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 35 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ 42 6.1. Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 42 6.2. Suggestions for future research .................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 44 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background info on Finnish national lottery and debate surrounding it This thesis explores whether lottery privatization efforts in European Union have been successful. This topic has not been widely studied yet, with most gambling privatization studies looking at the United States instead of Europe. Yet, countries in Europe have rushed to privatize their national lotteries at the same time as states have rushed to privatize their state lotteries. There is some research available on how privatization of state lotteries has often caused the states to lose money, but barely any regarding whether whole countries privatizing their national lotteries have had the same negative economic effects, or possibly positive economic effects. This research also looks to find the best possible way for Finland to treat their national lottery. As Finnish Veikkaus has gathered more and more negative publicity in Finland, it has become clearer that something has to be done about the company. The choices are to either strengthen the lottery monopoly in ways that would make its operations more acceptable in the eyes of the people, or to dismantle the existing lottery monopoly and to move onto a more competitive gambling market. As this research discusses how Finland should privatize its national lottery, if it were to do so, this research looks especially into the privatization that has happened in Sweden in the previous years. This is due to Finland and Sweden being fairly similar in multiple ways and Finland having a similar national lottery monopoly to that of Sweden prior