nep-spo New Economics Papers
on Sports and Economics
Issue of 2021‒07‒26
four papers chosen by
Humberto Barreto
DePauw University
  1. Genetic Diversity and Performance: Evidence from Fooball Data By Michel Beine; Silvia Peracchi; Skerdilajda Zanaj
  2. Different but stable - gender-specific competitive behaviour across age By Pikos, Anna Katharina; Straub, Alexander
  3. Fixing match-fixing: Optimal schedules to promote competitiveness By Mario Chater; Luc Arrondel; Jean-Pascal Gayant; Jean-François Laslier
  4. The Efficacy of Tournaments for Non-Routine Team Tasks By Florian Englmaier; Stefan Grimm; Dominik Grothe; David Schindler; Simeon Andreas Dermot Schudy
  1. By: Michel Beine; Silvia Peracchi; Skerdilajda Zanaj
    Abstract: The theoretical impact of genetic diversity is ambiguous since it leads to costs and benefits at the collective level. In this paper, we assess empirically the connection between genetic diversity and the performance of sport teams. Focusing on football (soccer), we built a novel dataset of national teams of European countries that have participated in the European and the World Championships since 1970. Determining the genetic diversity of national teams is based on the distance between the genetic scores of every players’ origins in the team. Genetic endowments for each player are recovered using a matching algorithm based on family names. Performance is measured at both the unilateral and bilateral level. Identification of the causal link relies on an instrumental variable strategy that is based on past immigration at the country level about one generation before. Our findings indicate a positive causal link between genetic diversity and teams’ performance. We find a substantial effect, a one-standard increase in diversity leading to ranking changes of two to three positions after each stage of a championship.
    Keywords: genetic diversity, football, sports team, performance, family names, migration
    JEL: F22 F66 O15 O47 Z22
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9188&r=
  2. By: Pikos, Anna Katharina; Straub, Alexander
    Abstract: There is mixed evidence for gender differences in competing against the opposite sex. We analyze performance data from a sport where men and women can compete directly against each other. Our unique data consists of close to 600,000 observations from around 23,500 mixed-gender ninepin bowling games in Austria and the Czech Republic. To account for possible self-selection into competition against the opposite gender, we use the opponent team's sex composition as an instrument. We and almost no gender differences in Austria. In Czechia, men perform better against women and women worse against men. This pattern is stable across age.
    Keywords: gender; gender gap in competition; sports economics
    JEL: J16 D90 Z22
    Date: 2021–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-689&r=
  3. By: Mario Chater (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Luc Arrondel (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jean-Pascal Gayant (GAINS - Groupe d'Analyse des Itinéraires et des Niveaux Salariaux - UM - Le Mans Université, CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - UNIV-RENNES - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-François Laslier (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)
    Abstract: In the last round of the FIFA World Cup group stage, games for which the outcome does not affect the selection of the qualified teams are played with little enthusiasm. Furthermore, a team that has already qualified may take into account other factors, such as the opponents it will face in the next stage of the competition so that, depending on the results in the other groups and the scheduling of the next stage, winning the game may not be in its best interest. Even more critically, there may be situations in which a simple draw will qualify both teams for the next stage of the competition. Any situation in which the two opposing teams do not play competitively is detrimental to the sport, and, above all, can lead to collusion and match-fixing opportunities. We here develop a relatively general method of evaluating competitiveness and apply it to the current format of the World Cup group stage. We then propose changes to the current format in order to increase the stakes in the last round of games of the group stage, making games more exciting to watch and, at the same time, reducing any collusion opportunities. We appeal to the same method to evaluate a "groups of 3" format which will be introduced in the 2026 World Cup edition as well as a format similar to the one of the current Euro UEFA Cup.
    Keywords: Operations research in sports,Tournament structure,FIFA World Cup,Modeling match outcomes,Monte Carlo simulations
    Date: 2021–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-03229942&r=
  4. By: Florian Englmaier; Stefan Grimm; Dominik Grothe; David Schindler; Simeon Andreas Dermot Schudy
    Abstract: Tournaments are often used to improve performance in innovation contexts. Tournaments provide monetary incentives but also render teams’ identity and social-image concerns salient. We study the effects of tournaments on team performance in a non-routine task and identify the importance of these behavioral aspects. In a natural field experiment (n>1,700 participants), we vary the salience of team identity, social-image concerns, and whether teams face monetary incentives. Increased salience of team identity does not improve performance. Social-image motivates mainly the top-performing teams. Additional monetary incentives improve all teams’ outcomes without crowding out teams’ willingness to explore or perform similar tasks again.
    Keywords: team-work, tournaments, rankings, incentives, identity, image concerns, innovation, exploration, natural field experiment
    JEL: C93 D90 J24 J33 M52
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9189&r=
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