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Full-Text Articles in Sports Studies

Do Hitters Boost Their Performance During Their Contract Years?, Heather M. O'Neill Oct 2014

Do Hitters Boost Their Performance During Their Contract Years?, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

Each season, baseball fans and journalists alike identify which players are in the final years of their contracts because a lot rides on how the players produce in their “contract year.” Will a player boost his effort and performance in an effort to improve his value and bargaining power? Or will he crumble under the pressure? Or are players’ performances uncorrelated with where they stand in their contract cycles?


Do Major League Baseball Hitters Engage In Opportunistic Behavior?, Heather M. O'Neill Aug 2013

Do Major League Baseball Hitters Engage In Opportunistic Behavior?, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

This study focuses on 256 Major League Baseball free agent hitters playing under the 2006–2011 collective bargaining agreement to determine whether players engage in opportunistic behavior in their contract year, i.e., the last year of their current guaranteed contracts. Past studies of professional baseball yield conflicting results depending on the econometric technique applied and choice of performance measure. When testing whether players’ offensive performances increase during their contract year, the omitted variable bias associated with OLS and pooled OLS estimation leads to contrary results compared to fixed effects modeling. Fixed effects regression results suggest players increase their offensive performance subject …


The Look Of The Line: An Empirical Investigation Of The Impacts Of Facial Symmetry On Salary Levels Of Offensive Linemen In The Nfl, Kristen Wampole Apr 2012

The Look Of The Line: An Empirical Investigation Of The Impacts Of Facial Symmetry On Salary Levels Of Offensive Linemen In The Nfl, Kristen Wampole

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Evaluation of a professional athlete's performance for the purposes of compensation determination is difficult, especially when decision making may not follow the expected "instrumental rationality." This paper will look to examine the factors, both productive and non-productive, impacting an Offensive Lineman's salary in the NFL. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an offensive lineman's salary is based on productive characteristics adhering to instrumental rationality, or whether the influence of non-productive characteristics influence salary as ultimately determined by team management. Results indicate that players within the tackle position with earning salaries in the seventy-fifth percentile gain additional benefits …


Do Major League Baseball Hitters Come Up Big In Their Contract Year?, Heather M. O'Neill, Matthew J. Hummel Jan 2011

Do Major League Baseball Hitters Come Up Big In Their Contract Year?, Heather M. O'Neill, Matthew J. Hummel

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

In sports, especially baseball, there is a lot of talk about contract year performance. Beginning in spring training and continuing throughout the season, sports journalists and fans converse about how players in the last year of their contract will perform. Experts in the media, often ex-baseball players themselves, speculate contract year players will have break-out seasons in order to secure a better contract in upcoming contract negotiations. This leads to the question: do baseball players increase their effort and performance during their contract year to increase the value of their next contract?


Stats Or Studs: Does It Pay To Be Good Looking? The Economic Impact Of Lookism, Lisle O'Neill Apr 2009

Stats Or Studs: Does It Pay To Be Good Looking? The Economic Impact Of Lookism, Lisle O'Neill

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a phrase that exemplifies the subjectivity of attractiveness. In recent years, researchers in the fields of economics, sociology, and anaplasty have used symmetry analysis in an attempt to make beauty an objective issue. People characterized by greater facial symmetry, as defined by exhibiting balanced lateral proportions, are considered to be more attractive. Furthermore, labor economists, such as Hamermesh and Biddle (1994), suggest a wage premium for more attractive individuals, however, the measure of attractiveness was not based on symmetry. This study examines the effect of NFL quarterbacks' attractiveness on …