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on Sports and Economics |
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Issue of 2017‒03‒12
three papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Tim Jaekel (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The paper provides a collection and analysis of modern sports-for-all policies in Europe, North America, Australia and China. Promoting a healthy lifestyle among community members by providing easy access to sport facilities has been a traditional function of sport-for-all policies. Modern policy goals now also include promoting racial and gender equity and diversity, fighting doping, harassment and violence, in particular child abuse, and promoting tourism. Despite the different administrative contexts the implementation of policy goals heavily relies on volunteers and voluntary non-for profit organizations. Two in-depth case studies on sport governing bodies in Germany and England exemplify common patterns in service delivery and how policy goals have shifted from maintaining sporting facilities to non-sporting objectives like job creation, stimulation of tourism and gender equity.The paper identifies and discusses five challenges for modern sports-for-all policies: tracking the quality of public service delivery, the link between outcomes and impacts, goal ambiguity and complexity, staff size, and managing collaborations in a hyper-complex environment |
| Keywords: | public administration, public policy, mass sports, health-promoting physical activities (HEPA). |
| JEL: | H11 H40 Z28 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:04/psp/2017&r=spo |
| By: | Ryan Brady (United States Naval Academy); Michael Insler (United States Naval Academy) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we exploit naturally occurring randomized settings within a very large dataset of golf shots to test whether order of play matters in competition. We isolate two settings where professional golf competitors find themselves with virtually identical shots, implying the order of play is effectively random. The settings we define allow us to identify unbiased, causal estimates of the relevance of moving first or second in competition. We find robust evidence that the second-mover has a statistically (and economically) significant advantage, which we argue is consistent with a learning effect in competition, in contrast to an intimidation or superstar effect as found elsewhere in the literature. Length: 44 pages |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usn:usnawp:54&r=spo |
| By: | Cohen-Zada, Danny (Ben Gurion University); Krumer, Alex (University of St. Gallen); Rosenboim, Mosi (Ben Gurion University); Shapir, Offer Moshe (New York University Shanghai) |
| Abstract: | We exploit a unique setting in which two professionals compete in a real-life tennis contest with high monetary rewards in order to assess how men and women respond to competitive pressure. Comparing their performance in low-stakes versus high-stakes situations, we find that men consistently choke under competitive pressure, but with regard to women the results are mixed. Furthermore, even if women show a drop in performance in the more crucial stages of the match, it is in any event about 50% smaller than that of men. These findings are robust to different specifications and estimation strategies. |
| Keywords: | gender, performance, competitive pressure, tennis, choking |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10587&r=spo |