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on Sports and Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒07‒23
four papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Martin Grossmann (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Andreas Hefti (Department of Economics, University of Zurich); Markus Lang (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | The UEFA Champions League is an annual Pan-European football competition that takes place parallel to the domestic league competitions. The participation in the Champions League secures the teams large payments, which have steadily increased over the last decade. This paper develops a general contest model of a professional team sports league in which the winner of the domestic league competition participates in the Champions League and has the possibility to win an additional prize. Our model considers two leagues where each league is composed out of several profit-maximizing clubs. We analyze the impact of the Champions League on investment incentives, competitive balance and club profits. Our model shows that the Champions League prize and domestic league prize have differential effects on competitive balance: an increase in the Champions League prize decreases competitive balance, while an increase in the domestic league prize increases competitive balance. |
| Keywords: | Aggregative game, contest, heterogeneity, team sports league |
| JEL: | C72 D43 D72 L13 L83 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:wpaper:0161&r=spo |
| By: | Egon Franck (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Markus Lang (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Third party money injections of benefactors (sugar daddies) function as a bailout mechanism for otherwise insolvent football clubs. The successful implementation of the new UEFA "financial fair play" regulations will abrogate this bailout mechanism. We develop a theoretical model of a representative club and a sugar daddy to study the adverse incentive effects produced by the money injections of sugar daddies. We show that the existence of a sugar daddy induces the club to choose a riskier investment strategy and the more the sugar daddy commits to bailout the club, the more the clubs' optimal level of riskiness increases. Moreover, a private sugar daddy bails out the club less often than a public sugar daddy. Our model further shows that a "too-big-to-fail" phenomenon exists because it is optimal to always bailout a club if its market size is sufficiently large. Finally, we derive conditions under which the FFP and the pre-FFP regulations, respectively, are desirable from a welfare perspective. |
| Keywords: | Regulation, sports, UEFA, risk, bailout |
| JEL: | C72 D43 D72 L13 L83 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:wpaper:0160&r=spo |
| By: | Kiefer, Stephanie; Scharfenkamp, Katrin |
| Abstract: | The discussion about the impact of physical attractiveness on popularity of competitive athletes has received much attention from scholars as well as from media around the world. We provide new insights to this debate by estimating correlation-coefficients and regression-models to test whether and to which extent physical attractiveness of professional female tennis players affects their popularity in online media. Based on a sample of the top 100 WTA single ranking of one selected calendar week in 2011 we find that physical attractiveness increases significantly the popularity on Facebook, WTA news, Kicker.de, the homepage of the Tennis Life Magazine and Google. -- Der Einfluss physischer Attraktivität auf die Popularität von Sportlern bekommt von Wissenschaftlern, aber auch von den Medien viel Aufmerksamkeit und wird viel diskutiert. Durch die Berechnung von Korrelationskoeffizienten und Regressionsmodellen untersuchen wir diesen Einfluss bei professionellen Tennisspielerinnen in verschiedenen Onlinemedien und tragen dadurch neue Erkenntnisse zu dieser Diskussion bei. In unserem untersuchten Sample, welches sich auf die Top 100 Tennisspielerinnen des WTA Single Ranking einer ausgewählten Kalenderwoche aus dem Jahr 2011 bezieht, können wir einen signifikanten Einfluss der physischen Attraktivität auf die Popularität in den Medien Facebook, WTA news, Kicker.de, der Homepage des Tennis Life Magazine und Google feststellen. |
| JEL: | I23 I20 A11 C81 M00 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:umiodp:62012&r=spo |
| By: | Yange Xue; Sally Atkins-Burnett; Emily Moiduddin; Sharon Murphy; Artineh Samkian |
| Abstract: | This issue brief describes children's development in the Los Angeles Universal Preschool program during 2010–2011. English-proficient students showed significant growth in early literacy skills from fall to spring, with their mean scores exceeding the national average. However, their vocabulary concepts and math skills were below the national average in spring. Language and math skills for English language learners continued to be below the national average, but literacy skills approached the national mean by spring 2011. At that time, the percentage of children scoring in the expected range exceeded the national average for attention, activity level, and sociability. |
| Keywords: | UPCOS, LAUP, Early Childhood, Preschool Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2012–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7462&r=spo |