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on Sports and Economics |
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Issue of 2005‒06‒05
three papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal |
| By: | Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | Most of the football papers that measure the international performances focus on the ranking system provided by the FIFA. Surprisingly, the World Cup per se has not been analyzed intensively. This paper as a novelty reports empirical evidence of international team performances in the World Cup tournaments between 1930 and 2002. The paper investigates to which extent economic, demographic, cultural and climatic factors have an impact on national teams’ performances. Strong evidence is reported that nations with a stronger football tradition perform better. |
| Keywords: | football; soccer; FIFA; culture |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2004–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2004-18&r=spo |
| By: | Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | The expansion of economics to “non-market topics” such as football has received increased attention in recent years. However, most of the studies focus on men’s performances, whereas this paper reports empirical evidence of women’s international team performances. In line with the previous studies who analyzed the performance of men, the results reveal that economic, demographic, and climatic factors have a strong impact on teams’ performances. In this paper we analyze furthermore whether there is a correlation between women’s and men’s team performances. In general, countries with a stronger football tradition have not only strong men’s teams, but also women’s teams. The findings also indicate that there is a certain competitive balance between the different football regions. |
| Keywords: | football; soccer; FIFA; culture |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2004–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2004-19&r=spo |
| By: | Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | Most sport papers focus on disciplines such as soccer, football, baseball, basketball or golf. Surprisingly, cycling per se has not been analyzed intensively. This paper reports empirical evidence of individuals’ performances in the cycle race ‘Tour de France’ with data for the year 2004. The results indicate that the performances in the time races and the mountains are the most important for a cyclist’s success. Athletes who were successful in previous tours perform better than other participants. Furthermore, a lower body-mass index leads to a higher performance. On the other hand, factors such as age, years of professionalism and number of participations in the Tour are statistically not significant. While domestic cyclists do not perform better, we found that cyclists from the heartlands of cycling reach better results than others. |
| Keywords: | sport; cycling tour; Tour de France |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2004–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2004-22&r=spo |