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on Sports and Economics |
|
Issue of 2010‒09‒11
three papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Mario Lackner |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the labor market for collegiate football players and argues that professional football teams have discriminating preferences when making their hiring decisions. An empirical analysis of panel data of 32 NFL teams in recent seasons is carried out to test the effects of such preferences on the performance of teams. The results provide strong evidence that certain criteria, which do have a high influence on a player’s chances to start a career in Professional Football, have actually little influence on team-efficiency whatsoever. Consequently, this implies that discrimination in the form of hiring preferences create a sub-optimal result in terms of building a team, as well as for the overall labor market in Professional Football. |
| Keywords: | Labor market in sports, discrimination in hiring, production efficiency, stochastic production frontier |
| JEL: | J7 J2 L83 C23 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2010_10&r=spo |
| By: | Stan du Plessis (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Cobus Venter (Bureau for Economic Research, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | The FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa during June/July 2010 was a much anticipated sport spectacle, but also widely expected to yield lasting and considerable economic benefits for the host country. Optimistic scenarios have encouraged these expectations, but there have also been cautionary studies based on the economic impact of earlier mega sport events. There are three dimensions to the potential contribution of a mega sport event to local economy, (i) the preparatory activity such as the construction of stadia, (ii) the event itself and the impact of large numbers of tourists and (iii) the long term impact of the tournament due to a changed perception of the host economy and the potential for trade, investment and tourism. This paper provides an early assessment of the tournament’s known impact along these dimensions and the results are sobering: the tournament made only a small contribution to the economy in the preparatory phase, though that was fortuitously countercyclical. Further the immediate impact of the event on the economy, around 0.1% of GDP, was much lower than widely expected and reported. It is the longer run implications of hosting a successful tournament that holds more promise for sizeable benefits, though the outcome remains uncertain on that dimension and contingent on other factors that might undermine the favourable impression created by the tournament. |
| Keywords: | FIFA world cup, Mega sport events, Sport and economics |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers120&r=spo |
| By: | Thomas Miceli (University of Connecticut); Brian Volz (Assumption College) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The approach interprets a player’s career statistics as inputs, and the percentage of votes he received for the HOF as the output. A constructed frontier based on past voting defines the maximum number of votes that a player should receive based on his statistical profile. Our results suggest that about a third of current members of the HOF (excluding Negro League players, managers, umpires, and executives) should be replaced by more deserving players. Our conclusions, however, do not account for those aspects of a player’s career (both positive and negative) not captured by statistics. |
| Keywords: | Baseball hall of fame; data envelopment analysis; production theory |
| JEL: | C44 D20 L83 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2010-22&r=spo |