R-rated films are correlated with lower box office revenues. Using sex and nudity content as an instrument to predict R-ratings, we show that R-ratings themselves are not the cause of lower revenues. Instead, R-rated films contain traits that lower revenues and the ratings act as a signal of...

We empirically investigate whether there is any statistically and economically meaningful correlation between the success a nation’s soccer team in the FIFA World Cup Finals and that nation’s real per-capita GDP growth. Using an unbalanced panel of countries from 1950 through 2004, we find...

Emotions can have important effects on performance and economic outcomes. This study examines the behavior of professional athletes involved in a dynamic competition in their own natural environment. We empirically analyze overtime shootouts in the National Hockey League in the context of...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of attendance to Division I women’s collegiate basketball programs from 2000-2009. The evidence suggests that women’s basketball attendance is sensitive to many of the same variables known to influence attendance to men’s collegiate basketball,...

Using data from the 2007, 2008, and 2009 NASCAR seasons, this paper shows that the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis pertains to both race attendance and television audience, with the former only responding to race-level uncertainty and the latter responding to both race-level and season-level...