Location Is Everything: Proximity and the Diffusion of Tribal-State Gaming Compacts
2026-05-09
Research on competition and policy diffusion has made important contributions to our understanding of how political and economic factors influence policy adoption and change. In the following article, I examine how the adoption of Indian gaming compacts between Tribes and state governments are influenced by proximity to surrounding Native nations over 30 years of legal existence. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 created the legal framework for the adoption of Tribal gaming in the United States, requiring states and Tribes to sign compact agreements prior to opening “Las Vegas style” casinos subject to federal approval. Based on coding of more than 400 compact agreements from 1989 to 2019, this article explores how proximity to Tribes in neighboring states influences compact adoption and expansion in the U.S. I find that the number of neighboring gaming states with a Tribe close to the border has a positive impact on Indian gaming expansion, while decisions to adopt gaming for the first time are influenced by social learning from neighboring states. The results of this study suggest the dynamic way that Tribes as sovereign governments influence the policy diffusion process.