Comparing talent across time is difficult as productivity changes. To compare talent across time we utilize Major League baseball data from 1871-2010 and time series techniques to determine if the mean and standard deviation of five performance measures are stationary and if structural breaks...

NASCAR’s reward structure for rank order tournaments has been considered the exception to the rule in tournament theory due to the linear payout structure. We suggest that the rewards for drivers are nonlinear when you take into consideration the value of sponsorship time on camera and sponsor...

Corporate sponsorship plays an important role in the entertainment business. The question becomes: what influences the value of a sponsorship contract? Empirical analysis of this question is relatively limited because of a lack of complete data on contract values. This is especially true in...

Public funds to build sports stadiums are commonly justified by the perceived economic impacts and civic pride they create for the community. Since the 1980s, there have been many studies looking at the economic impact and civic pride created by professional sports teams. Most of the literature...

Objectives: Smoking during pregnancy is a key preventable risk contributor to poor infant health. Our study presents a full dynamic relationship between the timing of prenatal smoking cessation or reduction and infant birth weight. Methods: Using a large representative dataset of birth cohort in...

Two recent articles in the Journal of Sports Economics have analyzed compensation discrimination in the National Football League. Keefer (2013) found white linebackers were paid a premium while Burnett and Van Scyoc (2013) find no white premium for either rookie linebackers or rookie offensive...

Even in historically water-rich areas, population growth and drought put pressure on water supplies. Understanding public attitudes about water management and, especially water conservation, may become increasingly salient as these regions attempt to address water supply issues. Using the...

Using NFL data from 2000 to 2008, we test for compensation discrimination on career earnings in the NFL. We use both the traditional dummy variable technique applied to Ordinary Least Squares regression as well as quantile regression analysis to measures the effect of race on earnings. We focus...

Using a panel study of annual NFL data (2000–2008) we test for exit discrimination on career length in the NFL. We focus on six positional groups: defensive backs, defensive linemen, linebackers, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers. We test for exit discrimination using both...

We use data from the National Basketball Association (NBA) to analyze the impact of minimum salaries on an employee’s career length. The NBA has a salary structure in which the minimum salary a player can receive increases with the player’s years of experience. Salary schedules similar to...