THE ECONOMICS of FOOTBALL!



Using sports data to test economic theories definitely belongs to wackonomics. The idea is, indeed, surprising and some people will not consider it to be 'good' economics. While there's a long tradition in the economics of baseball and basketball, the economics of football is a quite recent phenomenon.

Some webpages of people working on the economics of football

Stefan Szymanski (Imperial College)
Ruud Koning (U Groningen)
Ignacio Palacios-Huerta (Brown U) (Check out his great working papers using soccer data (I'm definitely jealous!))

Some References

Baimbridge, M., Cameron, S. and Dawson, P (1996), "Satelite Television and the Demand for Football: a Whole New Ball Game ?", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 43, nr. 3, p. 317-332.

Barnett, V. and Hilditch, S. (1993), "The Effect of an Artificial Pitch Surface on Home Team Performance in Football (Soccer)", Journal of the Royal Statistical Society A, part 1, p. 39-50.

Bird, P. (1982), "The Demand for League Football", Applied Economics, vol. 14, p. 637-649.

Carmichael, F. and Thomas, D. (1993), "Bargaining in the Transfer Market: Theory and Evidence", Applied Economics, vol. 25, p. 1467-1476.

Carmichael, F., Forrest, D. and Simmons, R. (1999), "The Labour Market in Association Football: Who Gets Transferred and For How Much?", Bulletin of Economic Research, vol. 51, nr. 2, p. 125-150.

Dobson, S. and Goddard, J. (1992), "The Demand for Standing and Seated Viewing Accomodation in the English Football League", Applied Economics, vol. 24, p. 1155-1163.

Dobson, S. and Goddard, J. (1996), "The Demand for Football in the Regions of England and Wales", Regional Studies, vol 30, nr. 5, p. 443-453.

Dobson, S. and Goddard, J. (1998), "Performance, Revenue, and Cross Subsidization in the Football League, 1927-1994", Economic History Review, vol. 51, nr. 4, p. 763-785.

Hoehn, T. and Szymanski, S. (199?), "The Americanization of European Football", Economic Policy, p.205-240.

Janssens, P. and Késenne, S. (1987), "Belgian Soccer Attendances", Tijdschrift voor Economie en Management, vol. 32, nr. 3, p. 305-315.

Jennet, N. (1984), "Attendances, Uncertainty of Outcome, and Policy in Scottish League Football", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 31, nr. 2, p. 176-198.

Késenne, S (1997), "L' Affaire Bosman et l'Economie du Sport Professionel", Problčmes Economiques, nr. 2503, p. 6-10.

Késenne, S. (1993), "De Economie van de Sport", Economisch en Sociaal Tijdschrift, nr. 3, p. 359-382. (in Dutch)

Koning, R. (1999), "Competitive Balance in Dutch Soccer", Working Paper, University of Groningen.

Koning, R. (2000), "An Econometric Analysis of the firing of a Coach on Team Performance", Working Paper, University of Groningen.

Lehman, E and Weigand, J. (19??) "Money Makes the Ball Go Round", in German

Mehrez, A. and Hu, M. (1995), "Predictors of the Outcome of a Soccer Game- a Normative Analysis Illustrated for the Israeli Soccer League", Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, vol. 42, p. 361-372.

Morrow, S. (1997), "The City's Match of the Day", New Economy, p.202-217.

Palomino, F., Rigotti, L. and Rustichini, A. (1999), "Skill, Strategy and Passion: an Empirical Analysis of Soccer", Working Paper, Center-Tilburg University.

Peel, D. and Thomas, D. (1988), "Outcome Uncertainty and the Demand for Football: an Analysis of Match Attendances in the English Football League",

Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 35, nr. 3, p. 242-249.

Peel, D. and Thomas, D. (1992), "The Demand for Football: Some Evidence on Outcome Uncertainty", Empirical Economics, vol. 17, p. 323-331.

Ramsay, H. (1975), "Firms and Football Teams", British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 13, nr. 3.

Renneboog, L. and Vanbrabant, P.(2000), "Share Price Reactions to Sporty Performances of Soccer Clubs Listed on the London Stock Exchange and the AIM", Working Paper, Center-Tilburg University.

Ridder, G., Cramer, J. and Hopstaken, P. (1994), "Down to Ten: Estimating the Effect of a Red Card in Soccer", Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 89, nr. 427, p. 1124-1127.

Rosen, Sherwin and Sanderson, Allen (1994), "Labor Markets in Professional Sports", NBER Working Paper 7573.

Simmons, R. (1996), "The Demand for English League Football: a Club Level Analysis", Applied Economics, vol. 28, p. 139-155.

Sloane, P. (1971), " The Economics of Professional Football: The Football Club as a Utility Maximiser", Scottisch Journal of Political Economy, p.121-146.

Speight, A. and Thomas, D. (1997), "Arbitrator Decision-Making in the Transfer Market: An Empirical Analysis", Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 44, nr. 2, p. 198-215.

Speight, A. and Thomas, D. (1997), "Football League Transfers: a Comparison of Negotiated Fees with Arbitration Settlements", Applied Economics Letters, nr. 4, p. 41-44.

Szymanski, S. and Smith, R. (1997), " The English Football Industry: Profit, Performance and Industrial Structure ", International Review of Applied Economics, vol. 11, nr. 1, p. 135-153.

Vamplew, W. (199?), "The Economics of a Sports Industry: Scottish Gate-Money Football, 1890-1914",???

Wilson, P. and Sim, B. (1995), "The Demand for Semi-Pro League Football in Malaysia 1989-1991: a Panel Data Approach", Applied Economics, vol. 27, p. 131-138.



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Updated: April, 2001