We find an inverted relation between a player's birthday and the likelihood of receiving the Ballon d'Or (awarded to the best football player in the world). We develop a multi-period skill formation model with selection into elite education. We show that those born late (underdogs) need to work...

Using a sample of professional baseball players from 1871-2007, this paper aims at analyzing a longstanding empirical observation that married men earn significantly more than their single counterparts holding all else equal (the "marriage premium"). Baseball is a unique case study because it...

This paper investigates the final bid prices for players during the first three seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Although the IPL imposes a salary cap and other labor-market restrictions, it is anticipated that final bid prices reflect the aggregate value of player productivity...

Following the NBA's 2006 ‘one-and-done' rule, players have to be at least one year out of high school before being eligible for the annual draft. This study finds that, whereas an array of NBA player performance measures, often referred to as ‘advanced statistics,' are strongly significant...

This study investigates escalation effects in the Australian Football League (AFL). We use a sample of players selected in the AFL player draft (National Draft) between 1986 and 2002, and test for escalation effects by examining whether a player's draft order affects his subsequent utilisation...

This article argues that most efficient method to value a Japanese baseballer is not to exclusively rely on one methodology or one group of statistics. The modern game of baseball has evolved that limits the value of traditional statistics, while the overreliance on ‘new age’ statistics like...

The study of sport in the economy presents a rich arena for the application of sharply focused microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics to both team and individual outcomes. This unique book offers a survey of recent research that follows the tradition of empirical and theoretical...