National lottery privatization in Europe - What can Finland learn from the privatization efforts of other EU countries?

Abstract

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.

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.

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.