nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2020‒03‒16
three papers chosen by
Humberto Barreto
DePauw University

  1. Quantifying the intangible impact of the Olympics using subjective well-being data By Dolan, Paul; Kavetsos, Georgios; Krekel, Christian; Mavridis, Dimitris; Metcalfe, Robert; Senik, Claudia; Szymanski, Stefan; Ziebarth, Nicolas R.
  2. Network Competition and Team Chemistry in the NBA By William C. Horrace; Hyunseok Jung; Shane Sanders
  3. Raising the Bar: Causal Evidence on Gender Differences in Risk-Taking from a Natural Experiment By Böheim, René; Lackner, Mario; Wagner, Wilhelm

  1. By: Dolan, Paul; Kavetsos, Georgios; Krekel, Christian; Mavridis, Dimitris; Metcalfe, Robert; Senik, Claudia; Szymanski, Stefan; Ziebarth, Nicolas R.
    Abstract: Hosting the Olympic Games costs billions of taxpayer dollars. Following a quasi-experimental setting, this paper assesses the intangible impact of the London 2012 Olympics, using a novel panel of 26,000 residents in London, Paris, and Berlin during the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013. We show that hosting the Olympics increases subjective well-being of the host city's residents during the event, particularly around the times of the opening and closing ceremonies. However, we do not find much evidence for legacy effects. Estimating residents' implicit willingness-to-pay for the event, we do not find that it was worth it for London alone, but a modest well-being impact on the rest of the country would make hosting worth the costs.
    Keywords: Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Happiness; Intangible effects; Olympic Games; Sport events; Quasi-natural experiment
    JEL: I30 I31 I38 L83
    Date: 2019–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:103403&r=all
  2. By: William C. Horrace (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244); Hyunseok Jung (Department of Economics, University of Arkansas); Shane Sanders (Department of Sports Management, Syracuse University)
    Abstract: We consider a heterogeneous social interaction model where agents interact with peers within their own network but also interact with agents across other (non-peer) networks. To address potential endogeneity in the networks, we assume that each network has a central planner who makes strategic network decisions based on observable and unobservable characteristics of the peers in her charge. The model forms a simultaneous equation system that can be estimated by Quasi-Maximum Likelihood. We apply a restricted version of our model to data on National Basketball Association games, where agents are players, networks are individual teams organized by coaches, and competition is head-to-head. That is, at any time a player only interacts with two networks: their team and the opposing team. We find significant positive within-team peer-effects and both negative and positive opposing-team competitor-effects in NBA games. The former are interpretable as “team chemistries" which enhance the individual performances of players on the same team. The latter are interpretable as “team rivalries," which can either enhance or diminish the individual performance of opposing players.
    Keywords: Spatial Analysis, Peer Effects, Endogeneity, Machine Learning
    JEL: C13 C31 D24
    Date: 2020–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprwps:226&r=all
  3. By: Böheim, René (University of Linz); Lackner, Mario (University of Linz); Wagner, Wilhelm (University of Linz)
    Abstract: We analyze data from top-tier professional athletes and find that female and male athletes differ in the timing and in the extent of their reactions to a change of the rules which increased the risk of failure. Male athletes increased risk-taking in the more risky environment immediately after the changes. Female athletes, however, increased risk-taking two years after the rule change. Over time, female athletes reverted to pre-reform risk-taking levels and male athletes' continued to make more risky decisions in the new environment. We attribute our findings to gender differences in competitiveness and risk preferences.
    Keywords: competitiveness, risk-taking, gender differences
    JEL: J16 J44
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12946&r=all

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