nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2012‒08‒23
eight papers chosen by
Joao Carlos Correia Leitao
University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon

  1. Collegiate and professional careers of high school athletes By Mirabile, McDonald; Witte, Mark
  2. Can schools buy success in college football? Coach compensation, expenditures and performance By Mirabile, McDonald; Witte, Mark
  3. An empirical study of relationship between FIFA world ranking and domestic football competition level: the case of Turkey By Halicioglu, Ferda
  4. If you host it, where will they come from? Mega-Events and Tourism in South Africa By Matheson V.; Peeters Th.; Szymanski S.
  5. Baseball Salaries and Income Taxes: The "Home Field Advantage" of Income Taxes on Free Agent Salaries By James Alm; William H. Kaempfer; Edward Batte Sennoga
  6. Participation and Performance at the London 2012 Olympics By Kuper, Gerard H.; Sterken, Elmer
  7. Hierarchical Organization and Performance Inequality: Evidence from Professional Cycling By Bertrand Candelon; Arnaud Dupuy
  8. What Shapes Young Elite Athletes’ Perception of Chances in an Environment of Great Uncertainty? By Verena Jung; Sascha L. Schmidt; Benno Torgler

  1. By: Mirabile, McDonald; Witte, Mark
    Abstract: We examine approximately 1,000 high school quarterbacks that are recruited into collegiate athletics to determine what factors impact the player’s decision to transfer to another school, change their position from quarterback, complete their eligibility (and presumably graduate), to be drafted into the National Football League and/or to make a professional roster at any level. Results suggest that minority student-athletes are more than twice as likely to change their position; this is especially sensitive because most college coaches are white. Players that attend universities near their hometown see significant benefits in terms of their collegiate outcomes and likelihood of playing professionally, perhaps because of greater access to their hometown’s social network.
    Keywords: college sports; football; players; student-athletes
    JEL: I23 L83
    Date: 2012–08–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40643&r=spo
  2. By: Mirabile, McDonald; Witte, Mark
    Abstract: Using unique data of Football Bowl Subdivision college football games, we examine the determinants of coach compensation, football expenses and performance. We find that coach compensation is highly related to the coach’s past success. Additionally, coach pay is higher when the institution has a larger fan base and the program has achieved a higher profit in the previous year. Football expenses are likewise determined by institutional characteristics such as the fan base, past profitability and historical success. Results suggest that coach compensation has no measurable impact on performance. A coach’s past success may impact their salary but their salary has no significant impact on future success. Though, an additional, aspirational increase in spending of $1 million on the football program can improve the probability of winning any particular game by 3.5% to 7.0%. Thus, the budget of an administrator is a better predictor of future performance than the coach’s salary.
    Keywords: college football; performance; coaching; compensation; spending
    JEL: I23 L83
    Date: 2012–08–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40642&r=spo
  3. By: Halicioglu, Ferda
    Abstract: This research is aimed at establishing a bivariate long-run association between FIFA country ranking and domestic football competition level in the case of Turkey. To test this hypothesis empirically, coefficient of variation values are computed seasonally for Turkish Super League over 1994-2010. This variable along the FIFA ranking of Turkey in the same period are used in the framework of ARDL approach to cointegration. The empirical results suggest that a 1% increase in the domestic football competition level leads to 1.14% rise in the FIFA ranking of Turkey. The post-sample variance decompositions also confirm the long-run relationship.
    Keywords: football; FIFA ranking; cointegration; variance decomposition; Turkey
    JEL: Z00 C22
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35662&r=spo
  4. By: Matheson V.; Peeters Th.; Szymanski S.
    Abstract: Hosting a major international sporting event is a costly affair for the organizing country. Growth in tourism is often cited as one of the economic benefits, which should allow the host to earn back these costs. In this paper we use monthly country-by-country arrival data to assess the impact of organizing the FIFA 2010 World Cup on tourism in South Africa. We find that South Africa attracted around 200,000 extra arrivals from non-SADC countries during the event. Participating countries and South Americans contributed most to this increase. These figures are far below most projections made before the event.
    Date: 2012–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2012015&r=spo
  5. By: James Alm (Department of Economics, Tulane University); William H. Kaempfer (Department of Economics, University of Colorado at Boulder); Edward Batte Sennoga (Kampala, Uganda)
    Abstract: In this paper we examine the impact on the salaries of free agents in Major League Baseball of differences in state and local individual income taxes between major league cities, in an attempt to see if income taxes affect player salaries. Our basic specification suggests that each percentage point of an income tax raises free agent salaries by $21 to $24 thousand; other estimates indicate even larger impacts. Our findings suggest that the existence of this additional salary demand means that low tax cities (e.g., Florida, Texas, and Washington) have a "home field advantage" in the baseball free agent market.
    Keywords: Tax incidence, free agents, income tax, luxury tax
    JEL: H22 H24 H31 H73 L83
    Date: 2012–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tul:wpaper:1209&r=spo
  6. By: Kuper, Gerard H.; Sterken, Elmer (Groningen University)
    Abstract: The current paper predicts the medal tally for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The forecast procedure consists of analyzing participation and success at the country level of the three most recent editions of the Olympic Summer Games. Potential explanatory variables for medal winnings are income per capita, population, geographical distance to the Games, success in terms of medals won at World Championships, and the home advantage. Our forecasts show that the China takes first place in the medal tally with 44 gold medals, followed by the United States of America winning 33 gold medals. We expect Great Britain to take fourth place winning 23 gold medals.
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:rugsom:12006-eef&r=spo
  7. By: Bertrand Candelon (Department of economics, Maastricht University); Arnaud Dupuy (Corresponding address: ROA and department of economics, Maastricht University PO Box 616, NL-6200 MD, The Netherlands. Email: a.dupuy@roa.unimaas.nl)
    Abstract: This paper proposes an equilibrium theory of the organization of work in an economy with an implicit market for productive time. In this market, agents buy or sell productive time. This implicit mar- ket gives rise to the formation of teams, organized in hierarchies with one leader (buyer) at the top and helpers (sellers) below. Relative to autarky, hierarchical organization leads to higher within and between team payo¤s/productivity inequality. This prediction is tested empir- ically in the context of professional road cycling. We show that the observed rise in performance inequality in the peloton since the 1970s is merely due to a rise in help intensity within team and consistent with a change in the hierarchical organization of teams.
    Keywords: Hierarchical organization, productive time, helping time, inequality, professional cycling
    JEL: D2 D3 L22
    Date: 2012–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2012/12&r=spo
  8. By: Verena Jung; Sascha L. Schmidt; Benno Torgler
    Abstract: Unrealistic optimism is a commonly observed bias in the perception of chances. In this paper, we examine whether the bias is also present among young elite soccer players (10 to 23 years old) who receive regular objective feedback through external assessments. Utilising a large unique data set of almost 1600 individuals allows us to explore the empirical validation of the ipsative theory of human behaviour. In particular, we analyse how factors such as age or experience, education, peer group performance, and the level of integration into culture exert influence over young elite athletes’ perceived chance of becoming a professional player. Working with a homogeneous dataset of individuals possessing similar characteristics and professional goals allows us to control for and isolate (unobserved) factors that may shape perceptions.
    Keywords: Perception of chances; unrealistic optimism; ipsative possibility set; integration effects; soccer
    JEL: L83 D81 D03 J15
    Date: 2012–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2012-14&r=spo

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