We re-examine incentives in Major League Baseball contracts by considering performance over the duration of the contract. We consider both the incentive to perform in order to maximize the subsequent contract and the disincentive of a fixed salary. We isolate the effect of the latter by...

In this paper,we consider whether underpaying players restricted by the reserve clause is a common practice in the three largest sports leagues in North America—the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that owners of professional sports teams do exercise monopsony...

In an attempt to even the playing field, Major League Baseball has considered a number of different redistribution programs. To successfully address the problem of imbalance in the league, redistribution must affect teams' marginal revenue functions. Previous theoretical work has shown that...

This paper outlines the conditions under which a state-run lottery yields an expected return greater than its costs. The analysis considers the possibility of multiple winner, the fact that lottery winnings are typically paid out over a 10 to 20 year span, the taxation of lottery winnings as...

This paper explains the economics of gambling behavior within a framework which explicitly incorporates agents' models and attitude toward risk. Within this framework, we characterize the formation of subjective probabilities, the equilibrium in a pointspread gambling market, and how the...

Prior work on long-term contracts and the incentive to shirk has focused almost exclusively on Major League Baseball. The current inquiry is the first to examine shirking in the National Basketball Association. We employed two different measures of player productivity. When the NBA's measure is...

Equity theory argues that workers examine their job performance and salaries relative to workers in comparable situations. If compensation is inequitable, workers may adjust their behavior. We test the hypothesis that an arbitration-eligible player in Major League Baseball is more likely to file...

This paper examines the impact of competitive balance on attendance in Major League Baseball. Two types of competitive balance are included in a single-equation model of attendance: intra-seasonal balance and inter-seasonal balance. The metric used to calibrate the first is the ratio of the...

We estimate the importance of teachers in Chicago public high schools using matched student-teacher administrative data. A one standard deviation, one semester improvement in math teacher quality raises student math scores by 0.13 grade equivalents or, over 1 year, roughly one-fifth of average...