ECASE is proud to announce its 8th Workshop on 'Using Sports in Economics and Management Research'. The programme includes interesting presentations by a mix of leading and up-and-coming international speakers. We conclude the afternoon with a celebration for the career of Jan van Ours. Please join us on 21 February at the Excelsior Stadium.
Programme
Matteo Picchio
'High temperatures and workplace injuries'
(joint with Jan van Ours)
High temperatures can have a negative effect on workplace safety for a variety of reasons. Discomfort and reduced concentration caused by heat can lead to workers making mistakes and injuring themselves. Discomfort can also be an incentive for workers to report an injury that they would not have reported in the absence of heat. We investigate how temperature affects injuries of professional tennis players in outdoor singles matches.
We find that for men injury rates increase with ambient temperatures. For women, there is no effect of high temperatures on injuries. Among male tennis players, there is some heterogeneity in the temperature effects, which seem to be influenced by incentives. Specifically, when a male player is losing at the beginning of a crucial (second) fourth set in (best-of-three) best-of-five matches, the temperature effect is much larger than when he is winning. In best-of-five matches, which are more exhausting, this effect is age-dependent and stronger for older players.
Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan)
'Racial Discrimination in the Labour Market of English Football Managers'
(joint with Sam Hoey and Thomas Peeters)
We track the post-playing careers of all professional football players who were active in the English top 4 divisions between 1990 and 2010 and ended their playing career by 2013. Out of 4770 individual players, we identify 837 (18%) as Black (or of mixed Black heritage).
Around 2% of Black former players eventually obtain a role as first team manager, whereas 9% of the non-Black former players progress to this level. Black former players face three significant impediments in their career progress: lower recruitment rates in junior managerial roles, reduced progression from junior to senior management, and a higher dismissal rate when in senior management. We document the importance of each of these in our sample.
We also find that on-field achievements as a player do not alleviate these impediments for Black former players.
Kaori Narita
'Skill Transmission and Leadership Success: Evidence from Professional Football'
(joint with Sam Hoey)
This study investigates the factors influencing the transition from player to manager and the determinants of managerial success in professional football. Using comprehensive data spanning 60 seasons (1963–2023) from major European leagues, we obtain model-based ability measures of players and managers. A key finding reveals that while being a successful player increases the likelihood of becoming a manager, it does not predict managerial effectiveness.
In contrast, players who were managed by skilled managers are not only more likely to transition into managerial roles but also tend to achieve greater success as managers. These results highlight the importance of mentorship and skill transmission in shaping future leaders within hierarchical structures. The study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of talent development and peer learning, emphasising the role of mentorship in professional sport and beyond.
Georgios Kavetsos
'Do mega sports events promote health behaviours?'
(joint with Christian Krekel & Nicolas R. Ziebarth)
To justify billion-dollar public expenditures on mega sports events, proponents often suggest lasting improvements in health behaviours among the general public. To estimate the returns to health behaviours from hosting the 2012 London Olympics, we collected panel data on more than 19,000 respondents across two European capitals, London and Paris, between 2011 and 2013. Using a difference-in-differences design with Paris as counterfactual, we find an increase in physical activity by six percentage points among the inactive, from a baseline of 34%. Activation, however, lasts only for about three months. Although we also find evidence for reduced alcohol and tobacco consumption during the event, a cost-benefit analysis suggests that staging mega sports events is not a cost-effective policy to promote lasting health behaviour change.
Contributions by Tito Boeri (Bocconi), Michele Belot (Cornell) and Anne Gielen (Erasmus School of Economics).
Dinner at the stadium
Location
Excelsior Stadium Woudestein
Address: Honingerdijk 110, 3062 NX Rotterdam
Registration
Participation in the workshop is open to all interested parties, including academics, students, journalists, and industry stakeholders. To register for participation in the workshop and celebration please sign up below.
Please indicate whether you plan to join the entire afternoon or just the celebration for Jan van Ours. You will receive a confirmation of your registration by e-mail.
Please fill in your personal information
See also
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- More information
The ECASE team
Jan van Ours, Thomas Peeters, Enrico Pennings, Michel van de Velden- Related links
- Erasmus Centre for Applied Sports Economics (ECASE)
