nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2021‒08‒16
four papers chosen by
Humberto Barreto
DePauw University

  1. Less information, more comparison, and better performance: evidence from a field experiment By Eyring, Henry; Ferguson, Patrick J.; Koppers, Sebastian
  2. Strategic processes in Australian golf clubs: a dynamic capabilities view By Anna Gerke; Geoff Dickson; Veit Wohlgemuth
  3. Fairer Chess: A Reversal of Two Opening Moves in Chess Creates Balance Between White and Black By Steven J. Brams; Mehmet S. Ismail
  4. Significant Hot Hand Effect in International Cricket By Sumit Kumar Ram; Shyam Nandan; Didier Sornette

  1. By: Eyring, Henry; Ferguson, Patrick J.; Koppers, Sebastian
    Abstract: We use a field experiment in professional sports to compare effects of providing absolute, relative, or both absolute and relative measures in performance reports for employees. Although studies have documented that the provision of these types of measures can benefit performance, theory from economic and accounting literature suggests that it may be optimal for firms to direct employees’ attention to some types of measures by omitting others. In line with this theory, we find that relative performance information alone yields the best performance effects in our setting—that is, that a subset of information (relative performance information) dominates the full information set (absolute and relative performance information together) in boosting performance. In cross-sectional and survey-data analyses, we do not find that restricting the number of measures shown per se benefits performance. Rather, we find that restricting the type of measures shown to convey only relative information increases involvement in peer-performance comparison, benefitting performance. Our findings extend research on weighting of and responses to measures in performance reports.
    Keywords: Wiley deal
    JEL: M40
    Date: 2021–05–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:111032&r=
  2. By: Anna Gerke (Audencia Recherche - Audencia Business School); Geoff Dickson (La Trobe University [Melbourne]); Veit Wohlgemuth (HTW - University of Applied Sciences [Berlin])
    Abstract: Research question: This paper addresses the following research questions: 1) To what extent do the procedural dimensions of the dynamic capabilities view explain non-profit sport organisations' adaptation to a changing environment? 2) To what extent do non-profit sport organisations develop routinised versus ad hoc dynamic capabilities? Research methods: Guided by an interpretivist approach we conducted semi-structured interviews with senior managers of 20 Australian golf clubs. We coded data guided by the procedural dimensions of the dynamic capabilities view but with inductively emerging sub themes. Results and findings: Our study demonstrates the usefulness of the dynamic capabilities view for investigating strategic processes within non-profit sport organisations. The three procedural dimensions-sensing, seizing, and transforming-captured the different practices undertaken within the golf clubs. Our findings suggest maturity of dynamic capability processes and success with using both routinised and ad hoc processes. Implications: Dynamic capabilities are useful for understanding the ability of non-profit sport organisations to adapt. Furthermore, routinisation depends on the maturity of an organisation's internal management processes and the means available for the latter.
    Keywords: dynamic capabilities,golf clubs,non-profit organisation,change management,strategic management
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03295365&r=
  3. By: Steven J. Brams; Mehmet S. Ismail
    Abstract: Unlike tic-tac-toe or checkers, in which optimal play leads to a draw, it is not known whether optimal play in chess ends in a win for White, a win for Black, or a draw. But after White moves first in chess, if Black has a double move followed by a double move of White and then alternating play, play is more balanced because White does not always tie or lead in moves. Symbolically, Balanced Alternation gives the following move sequence: After White's (W) initial move, first Black (B) and then White each have two moves in a row (BBWW), followed by the alternating sequence, beginning with W, which altogether can be written as WB/BW/WB/WB/WB... (the slashes separate alternating pairs of moves). Except for reversal of the 3rd and 4th moves from WB to BW, this is the standard chess sequence. Because Balanced Alternation lies between the standard sequence, which favors White, and a comparable sequence that favors Black, it is highly likely to produce a draw with optimal play, rendering chess fairer. This conclusion is supported by a computer analysis of chess openings and how they would play out under Balanced Alternation.
    Date: 2021–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2108.02547&r=
  4. By: Sumit Kumar Ram (Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich); Shyam Nandan (ETH Zürich); Didier Sornette (ETH Zürich - Department of Management, Technology, and Economics (D-MTEC); Swiss Finance Institute; Southern University of Science and Technology; Tokyo Institute of Technology)
    Abstract: We investigate the hot hand effect in the game of cricket by analyzing the complete recorded history of international cricket. We introduce an original temporal representation of performance streaks, which is suitable to be modelled as a self-exciting point process. We confirm the presence of hot hands across the players' careers. We show that the self-excitation patterns in performance clusters can be exploited for predicting future performances. This paper contributes to recent historiographical debates concerning the presence of hot hands in the sequence of successes in individual performances. The introduction of several metrics and methods can be useful to test and exploit the clustering of performance in the study of human behavior and the design of algorithms for predicting success.
    Keywords: Hot Hand Effect, Gambler's Fallacy
    Date: 2021–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2150&r=

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