The Lottery and Education: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?

Despite the promises of some states to use lottery revenues to fund education, they may be guilty of robbing Peter to pay Paul. This study examines the question of revenue fungibility in the case of state lotteries. Using time-series analysis, the research suggests that education is not a big winner in state lotteries. Two different patterns of fungibility emerge from the analysis that are suggestive of underlying budgetary politics.