nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2017‒04‒16
two papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Time To Go? Head Coach Quits and Dismissals in Professional Football By Buraimo, Babatunde; Bryson, Alex; Simmons, Rob
  2. Professional Sporting Events and Traffic: Evidence from US Cities By Brad R. Humphreys; Hyunwoong Pyun

  1. By: Buraimo, Babatunde (University of Liverpool); Bryson, Alex (University College London); Simmons, Rob (Lancaster University)
    Abstract: That football Head Coaches will be dismissed for poor performance and will quit when they have better outside options seems to be nothing more than a statement of the obvious. But owners may find it hard to distinguish poor performance from bad luck and may find it difficult to identify and attract talented managers from other clubs. Indeed, most of the literature indicates little improvement in team performance when one coach replaces another. Equally, Head Coaches may have few options to move to better clubs even when they are performing well. We identify significant differences between determinants of quits and dismissals that are largely consistent with a standard model which predicts departures occur when the value of the job match specific surplus for one or both parties falls below the value of outside options. However, dismissals and quits are more common in Italy and Spain than in Germany and France, suggesting institutions may be important. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of principal-agent theory and the wider literature on turnover among CEOs and other corporate leaders.
    Keywords: quits, dismissals, layoffs, managerial performance, team performance, football, survival analysis, competing risks
    JEL: J23 J24 J63 J64
    Date: 2017–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10600&r=spo
  2. By: Brad R. Humphreys (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Hyunwoong Pyun (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: Sporting events concentrate people at specific locations on game day. No empirical evidence currently exists linking sporting events to local traffic conditions. We analyze urban mobility data from 25 US etropolitan areas with MLB teams over the period 1990 to 2014 to assess the relationship between local traffic and Major League Baseball (MLB) games. Instrumental variable regression results indicate MLB attendance causes increases in local vehicle-miles traveled. At the sample average attendance of 2.8 million, average daily vehicle-miles traveled increases by about 6.9% in cities with MLB teams. Traffic congestion increases by 2%, suggesting that MLB games generate congestion externalities.
    Keywords: transportation, traffic congestion, vehicle-miles traveled, Major League Baseball
    JEL: Z20 R41 R23
    Date: 2017–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:17-05&r=spo

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