nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2016‒08‒21
three papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. A Bias-Corrected Estimator of Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues By Young Hoon Lee; Yongdai Kim; Sara Kim
  2. The strongest link in a weak team? Performance of players with and without outside options in relegated football clubs By Müller, Michael
  3. The Host with the Most? The Effects of the Olympic Games on Happiness By Paul Dolan; Georgios Kavetsos; Christian Krekel; Dimitris Mavridis; Robert Metcalfe; Claudia Senik; Stefan Szymanski; Nicolas R Ziebarth

  1. By: Young Hoon Lee (Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul); Yongdai Kim (Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul); Sara Kim (Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul)
    Abstract: The ratio of the actual standard deviation to the idealized standard deviation of win percentages (RSD) is the conventional measure of competitive balance (CB). RSD is designed to control for the effect of season length on the sample standard deviation of win percentages (ASD). Theoretically, the RSD should be greater than one, but empirical values below one have been found in previous studies. This paper employs a mathematical statistics approach to evaluate the statistical properties of RSD and ASD. In doing so, this study finds that RSD is constructed by an invalid normalization approach and that ASD is biased. It also presents a bias-corrected standard deviation (BCSD) as a new estimator of the standard deviation of true win probabilities. Results from the simulations confirm the following: (i) ASD is prone to underestimate CB levels when the number of games is small, (ii) the RSD values become unreasonably large when the number of games is large, and (iii) BCSD performs well with respect to mean bias and root mean squared errors. According to empirical analysis on the English Premier League (EPL) and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), BCSD shows that the KBO was more competitively-balanced than the EPL between 2000-2015, but the RSD implies that the two leagues were more or less equal.
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgo:wpaper:1611&r=spo
  2. By: Müller, Michael
    Abstract: In this study the performance of players in relegated German football clubs is analysed, in particular the change in their contribution to team production. The players in the data sample differ regarding their outside options. Different career opportunities of players may have two effects when their current team struggles against relegation. First, players with outside options should be less motivated compared to the reference group. Second, risk attitudes of players who lack career opportunities may change. The empirical results show that players with outside options contribute less to the teams overall running distance before they are transferred to league opponents. Players who stayed after relegation with their teams played more incomplete passes, which indicates that they are more willing to take risks. Effort levels of staying players get higher, but leaving players might have superior playing talent.
    Abstract: In diesem Beitrag wird die Leistung von Fußballern in absteigenden Bundesligavereinen untersucht, insbesondere die Veränderung in ihrem Beitrag zur Teamproduktion. Die Spieler im Datensatz unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich ihrer externen Optionen. Unterschiedliche Karrieremöglichkeiten von Fußballern könnten zwei Effekte haben, wenn ihr gegenwärtiger Verein gegen den Abstieg kämpft. Erstens sollten Spieler mit Angeboten von anderen Vereinen weniger motiviert sein. Zweitens könnte sich die Risikoeinstellung von Spielern ohne Transferanfragen ändern. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Anteil an der insgesamt vom jeweiligen Team zurückgelegten Laufdistanz für Fußballer niedriger ist, die ihre Vereine nach einem Ligaabstieg verlassen. Die Fehlpassquote der Spieler, die bei ihren Vereinen verbleiben, ist höher, was darauf hindeutet, dass ihre Risikobereitschaft steigt. Die Anstrengung verbleibender Spieler nimmt zu, doch abgehende Fußballer könnten ein größeres Spieltalent haben.
    JEL: Z20 Z22 J24 J63 M51 L83
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:umiodp:072016&r=spo
  3. By: Paul Dolan; Georgios Kavetsos; Christian Krekel; Dimitris Mavridis; Robert Metcalfe; Claudia Senik; Stefan Szymanski; Nicolas R Ziebarth
    Abstract: We show that hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 had a positive impact on the life satisfaction and happiness of Londoners during the Games, compared to residents of Paris and Berlin. Notwithstanding issues of causal inference, the magnitude of the effects is equivalent to moving from the bottom to the fourth income decile. But they do not last very long: the effects are gone within a year. These conclusions are based on a novel panel survey of 26,000 individuals who were interviewed during the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013, i.e. before, during, and after the event. The results are robust to selection into the survey and to the number of medals won.
    Keywords: Subjective well-being, Life Satisfaction, Happiness, Olympic Games, Natural experiment
    JEL: I30 I31 I38 L83 Z20 Z28
    Date: 2016–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:70&r=spo

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