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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Is There An Economic Case For The Olympic Games?, Chris Dempsey, Victor Matheson Jul 2019

Is There An Economic Case For The Olympic Games?, Chris Dempsey, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

The Olympic Games are a major undertaking that promise both large costs and potentially large benefits to host cities. This paper lays out the potential economic benefits of hosting the Olympics and details how, in the vast majority of cases, these gains are unlikely to cover the costs of hosting the event. The ideas are then applied to the experience of Boston in its ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.


Professional Sports, Hurricane Katrina, And The Economic Redevelopment Of New Orleans: Revisited, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade, Callan Henderschott Dec 2018

Professional Sports, Hurricane Katrina, And The Economic Redevelopment Of New Orleans: Revisited, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade, Callan Henderschott

Economics Department Working Papers

Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in late August 2005, resulting in damage to much of the city’s sports infrastructure and the temporary departure of both of New Orleans’ major league professional sports teams, the National Football League Saints and the National Basketball Association Hornets. The city spent over $500 million restoring the sports infrastructure in New Orleans, and both teams subsequently returned to the city. In addition, New Orleans has since hosted numerous mega-sporting events including the Super Bowl, NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, and several college football national championships. This paper examines the economic impact of …


The Rise And Fall (And Rise And Fall) Of The Olympic Games As An Economic Driver, Victor Matheson Dec 2018

The Rise And Fall (And Rise And Fall) Of The Olympic Games As An Economic Driver, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper traces the economic history of major sporting events focusing on the Olympics. Historically, the Olympic Games as well as other major sporting events have been considered costly events that place a burden on host cities. Only in relatively recent years, coinciding with the massive increases in the cost of hosting these events, have event organizers begun to claim that these events bring with them large economic benefits.


Point/Counterpoint: Is There A Case For Subsidizing Sports Stadiums?, Victor Matheson Dec 2018

Point/Counterpoint: Is There A Case For Subsidizing Sports Stadiums?, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

In recent decades, governments have committed enormous public resources to subsidize construction of new stadiums, and the dollar value of taxpayer contributions for these subsidies continues to climb. Spending of taxpayer dollars includes both direct subsidies from state and local governments, as well as indirect subsidies from the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance construction. In granting stadium subsidies, governments claim that the stadiums are a public good that attracts tourists and businesses, thereby generating increased spending and job creation—benefits that flow to the community rather than to team owners. But do such benefits exist, and are they large enough …


The Economic Impact Of Olympic Games: Effects Of Host Country Announcements On Stock Market Returns, Bryan Engelhardt, Victor Matheson, Alex Yen, Max Chisholm Jul 2018

The Economic Impact Of Olympic Games: Effects Of Host Country Announcements On Stock Market Returns, Bryan Engelhardt, Victor Matheson, Alex Yen, Max Chisholm

Economics Department Working Papers

Roughly seven years before an Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepts bids from countries to host an Olympics. Subsequently, the IOC determines and announces to the world who has won (and lost) the right to host. Contrary to prior evidence, we find the announcements do not affect the bidding countries’ stock markets. We complement prior studies by including additional, more recent, years of announcements, by investigating whether there are effects prior to the announcement, and by testing for an effect both parametrically and non-parametrically.


The Economics Of The World Cup, Victor Matheson May 2018

The Economics Of The World Cup, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

The quadrennial World Cup is perhaps the world’s most popular sporting event with millions of live fans and a worldwide television audience in the billions. It is also one of the most costly events to host with recent hosts countries such as Brazil and Russia spending around $12 billion putting on the tournament. This paper examines the costs and the benefits of hosting the World Cup with a focus on historical data and past economic impact studies.


Corruption In The Bidding, Construction, And Organization Of Mega-Events: An Analysis Of The Olympics And World Cup, Victor Matheson, Daniel Schwab, Patrick Koval Aug 2017

Corruption In The Bidding, Construction, And Organization Of Mega-Events: An Analysis Of The Olympics And World Cup, Victor Matheson, Daniel Schwab, Patrick Koval

Economics Department Working Papers

In the processes required to host a sports mega-event, corruption has been prevalent on numerous occasions, leading to unnecessary costs becoming the ultimate responsibility of a host government’s taxpayers. Little progress has been made in the prevention of such behavior. In this chapter, we examine the history of corruption in sports mega-events, namely the Olympics and World Cup, to identify parts of the bidding and preparation processes that are vulnerable to illicit behavior. We propose potential solutions to be implemented at various levels in order to prevent further corruption.


Hidden Subsidies And The Public Ownership Of Sports Facilities: The Case Of Levi’S Stadium In Santa Clara, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson, Debra O'Connor Aug 2017

Hidden Subsidies And The Public Ownership Of Sports Facilities: The Case Of Levi’S Stadium In Santa Clara, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson, Debra O'Connor

Economics Department Working Papers

Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California is an example of a private financing / public ownership arrangement. While the stadium’s construction resulted in no direct tax increases, this ownership arrangement allows the San Francisco 49ers to avoid many types of taxes on the income generated from Levi’s Stadium. We estimate the total tax savings to the 49ers at between $106 and $213 million over the first 20 years of Levi’s Stadium compared with a privately financed and owned option. We argue that tax savings inherent in private financing / public ownership arrangements represent indirect and hidden subsidies.


Mega-Events And Tourism: The Case Of Brazil, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson Aug 2017

Mega-Events And Tourism: The Case Of Brazil, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Mega-sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup are expensive affairs. Host countries often justify the spending required to stage these events by predicting that mega-events will draw large numbers of tourists. This paper analyzes monthly foreign tourist arrivals into Brazil between 2003 and 2015 and finds that the 2014 FIFA World Cup increased foreign tourism by roughly one million visitors. This number far exceeded expectations, but we show that roughly a quarter of this increase in foreign tourism was caused by the fortuitous advancement of Argentina’s national team, and potential hosts should not count on the event to consistently …


Beyond Moneyball: Changing Compensation In Mlb, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Jonathan A. Lanning May 2017

Beyond Moneyball: Changing Compensation In Mlb, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Jonathan A. Lanning

Economics Department Working Papers

This study examines the changes in player compensation in Major League Baseball during the last three decades. Specifically, we examine the extent to which recently documented changes in players’ compensation structure based on certain types of productivity fits in with the longer term trends in compensation, and identify the value of specific output activities in different time periods. We examine free agent contracts in three-year periods across three decades and find changes to which players’ performance measures are significantly rewarded in free agency. We find evidence that the compensation strategies of baseball teams increased the rewards to “power” statistics like …


Going For The Gold: The Economics Of The Olympics, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade Feb 2016

Going For The Gold: The Economics Of The Olympics, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade

Economics Department Working Papers

In this paper, we explore the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympic Games. On the cost side, there are three major categories: general infrastructure such as transportation and housing to accommodate athletes and fans; specific sports infrastructure required for competition venues; and operational costs, including general administration as well as the opening and closing ceremony and security. Three major categories of benefits also exist: the short-run benefits of tourist spending during the Games; the long-run benefits or the "Olympic legacy" which might include improvements in infrastructure and increased trade, foreign investment, or tourism after the Games; and intangible benefits …