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on Sports and Economics |
| By: | Böttger, Tom; Vischer, Lars |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the presence and variation of home bias across different hierarchical levels in German men's football. Based on an extensive dataset comprising 357, 530 matches from the 2023/2024 season-collected via a Python script-the analysis includes match outcomes, attendance figures, club locations, and prior season standings across 165 divisions in 28 football associations. These leagues span 13 hierarchical levels, from professional to amateur football. The results show that home bias is significantly more pronounced in lower divisions. This effect manifests itself through a higher frequency of home wins, fewer draws, and greater sensitivity to travel distance in amateur divisions. In contrast, more professional leagues may benefit from standardised conditions, which mitigate home bias. Overall, the findings highlight the strong influence of professionalisation on competitive balance. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how contextual factors shape match outcomes and demonstrates the need for differentiated analysis across league levels when examining behavioural biases in sports. |
| Abstract: | Diese Studie untersucht das Vorhandensein und die Unterschiede des Heimvorteils auf verschiedenen Spielklassenebenen im deutschen Herrenfußball. Grundlage ist ein umfassender Datensatz mit 357.530 Begegnungen aus der Spielzeit 2023/2024, der mittels eines Python-Skripts zusammengestellt wurde. Die Analyse berücksichtigt Spielausgänge, Zuschauerzahlen, Vereinsstandorte und Tabellenplatzierungen der Vorsaison aus 165 Spielklassen in 28 Landesverbänden. Diese Ligen verteilen sich auf 13 Spielklassenebenen vom Profi- bis zum Amateurbereich. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass der Heimvorteil in unteren Spielklassen deutlich stärker ausgeprägt ist. Dies zeigt sich durch eine höhere Quote an Heimsiegen, weniger Remis und eine stärkere Abhängigkeit von Anfahrtswegen in Amateurligen. Stärker professionalisierte Ligen dagegen profitieren vermutlich von einheitlicheren Rahmenbedingungen, die den Heimvorteil abschwächen. Insgesamt unterstreichen die Erkenntnisse den erheblichen Einfluss der Professionalisierung auf die Ausgeglichenheit des Wettbewerbs. Die Untersuchung trägt zu einem besseren Verständnis bei, wie Rahmenbedingungen die Spielergebnisse beeinflussen, und verdeutlicht die Notwendigkeit einer differenzierten Betrachtung über verschiedene Spielklassen hinweg bei der Analyse von Verhaltensmustern im Sport. |
| Keywords: | Amateur Sports, Competitive Balance, Football, Home Bias, Travel Distance |
| JEL: | D91 L83 Z20 Z21 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:umiodp:319069 |
| By: | Keith Paarporn; Adel Aghajan; Jason R. Marden |
| Abstract: | The allocation of resources plays an important role in the completion of system objectives and tasks, especially in the presence of strategic adversaries. Optimal allocation strategies are becoming increasingly more complex, given that multiple heterogeneous types of resources are at a system planner's disposal. In this paper, we focus on deriving optimal strategies for the allocation of heterogeneous resources in a well-known competitive resource allocation model known as the General Lotto game. In standard formulations, outcomes are determined solely by the players' allocation strategies of a common, single type of resource across multiple contests. In particular, a player wins a contest if it sends more resources than the opponent. Here, we propose a multi-resource extension where the winner of a contest is now determined not only by the amount of resources allocated, but also by the composition of resource types that are allocated. We completely characterize the equilibrium payoffs and strategies for two distinct formulations. The first consists of a weakest-link/best-shot winning rule, and the second considers a winning rule based on a weighted linear combination of the allocated resources. We then consider a scenario where the resource types are costly to purchase, and derive the players' equilibrium investments in each of the resource types. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2505.02860 |
| By: | Yevgeny Mugerman; Eyal Winter; Tomer Yafeh |
| Abstract: | We explore strategic betting in competitive environments with multiple participants and potential winners. We examine two scenarios: an “inclusive†low-competition scenario with many winners and an “exclusive†high-competition scenario with few winners. Using a simple model, we illustrate the strategic insights in these scenarios and present experimental results that align with our predictions. In the experiment, participants made repeated bets with feedback on past results and their payoffs. In the inclusive scenario, all but the worst guessers were rewarded, while in the exclusive scenario, only the top guessers received rewards. Our findings show that in the inclusive scenario, participants exhibit herding behavior by coordinating their bets, while in the exclusive scenario, they diversify their bets across multiple options. The main general insight of our findings is that in moderate competitions, one tends to join the majority to avoid standing out in case of failure, whereas in intense competitions, one tends to differentiate oneself from one’s peers to ensure that success stands out. This insight is relevant for a broad domain of strategic interactions. |
| Keywords: | Experimental Economics, Competitive Decision-Making, Herding Behavior, Divergence Strategy, Inclusive vs. Exclusive Scenarios, Multi-Winner Competition |
| JEL: | C9 D7 D8 L1 M3 G1 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:423283787 |