If a firm misleads consumers about the value of its product, does it matter if some consumers are more influenced by the deception than others? We show with a simple model that the answer is a resounding yes. Harm increases unambiguously due to an increase in the heterogeneity of deception, and...

We study a fundamental strategic decision in baseball: when (if at all) to make the “call to the bullpen” and pull the starting pitcher. We first use a simple theoretical model to show that at the optimal time to pull the starter, the pitching change should yield a strict improvement in...

This paper shows the first autocorrelation of basketball shot results is a highly biased and inconsistent estimator of the first autocorrelation of the ex ante probabilities the shots are made. Shot result autocorrelation is close to zero even when shot probability autocorrelation is close to...

We analyze the effects of pressure on performance using National Basketball Association (NBA) free throw data from the 2002-03 through 2009-10 seasons. We find strong evidence that players choke under pressure – they shoot 5-10% worse than normal in the final seconds of very close games....