nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2017‒06‒04
two papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior
  1. Running with a Mask? The Effect of Air Pollution on Marathon Runners’ Performance By Fu, Shihe; Guo, Mengmeng
  2. he Effect of Physical Activity on Student Performance in College: An Experimental Evaluation By Fricke, Hans; Lechner, Michael; Steinmayr, Andreas
  1. By: Fu, Shihe; Guo, Mengmeng
    Abstract: Using a sample of over 0.3 million marathon runners in 37 cities and 55 races in China in 2014 and 2015, we estimate the air pollution elasticity of finish time to be 0.041. Our causal identification comes from the exogeneity of air pollution on the race day because runners are required to register a race a few months in advance and we control for city fixed effects, seasonal effects, and weather condition on the race day. Including individual fixed effects also provides consistent evidence. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on the effect of air pollution on short-run productivity, particularly on the performance of athletes engaging outdoor sports and other workers whose jobs require intensive physical activities.
    Keywords: Air pollution; marathon; outdoor behavior; mega events; short-run productivity
    JEL: I18 Q53 R11 Z10
    Date: 2017–05–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:79473&r=spo
  2. By: Fricke, Hans; Lechner, Michael; Steinmayr, Andreas
    Abstract: What is the role of physical activity in the process of human capital accumulation? Brain research provides growing evidence of the importance of physical activity for various aspects of cognitive functions. An increasingly sedentary lifestyle could thus be not only harmful to population health, but also disrupt human capital accumulation. This paper analyzes the effects of on-campus recreational sports and exercise on educational outcomes of university students. To identify causal effects, we randomize ?nancial incentives to encourage students’ participation in on-campus sports and exercise. The incentives increased participation frequency by 0.26 times per week (47%) and improved grades by 0.14 standard deviations. This effect is primarily driven by male students and students at higher quantiles of the grade distribution. Results from survey data suggest that students substitute off-campus with on-campus physical activities during the day but do not signi?cantly increase the overall frequency. Our ?ndings suggest that students spend more time on campus and are better able to integrate studying and exercising, which may enhance the effectiveness of studying and thus improve student performance.
    Keywords: Sports, physical activity, human capital, student achievement, randomized experiment
    JEL: C93 I12 I18 I23 J24
    Date: 2017–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2017:07&r=spo
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