Archive
Minimum Pay Scale and Career Length in the NBA
Minimum Pay Scale and Career Length in the NBA (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
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 the NBA’s exist in public education, federal government agencies, the Episcopalian church, and unionized industries. Even though the magnitude of the salaries in the NBA differs from other industries, this study provides insight to the impact of this type of salary structure on career length. Using duration analysis, we find statistically significant evidence that minimum salaries shorten career length.
Newspaper and Internet Display Advertising – Co-Existence or Substitution?
Newspaper and Internet Display Advertising – Co-Existence or Substitution? (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
Newspapers have been experiencing declining circulation figures and diminishing advertising revenues for several years – both effects might pose a threat to the continuing existence of (print) newspapers. In an earlier paper, Lindstädt & Budzinski (2011) argued from a theoretical viewpoint that industry-specific patterns exist that determine substitution or complementation effects between internet and newspaper advertising. It was argued that retail advertising, in particular, may offer a niche for regional/local newspapers that can be expected to present a sustainable segment of complementarity along with the otherwise mostly substitutional advertising markets. This paper empirically tests these hypotheses by analyzing advertising spending data for newspaper and internet display advertising of 13 different industries in the U.S. from 2001-2010. We find evidence for some of the hypotheses. Whereas some industries showed clear substitution effects between internet display and newspaper advertising, the majority of our hypotheses could be only partly rejected: newspaper substi-tution effects could be observed, however, in the direction to traditional media platforms instead of internet display advertising. For two retail-sub-industries, the hypotheses could not be rejected for the analyzed period. The authors would like to thank the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University and in particular Anne Hoag and Dennis Davis for hosting Nadine Lindstädt as a Research Visiting Scholar in 2010/2011 which made it possible to access and use the Kantar Media Intelligence Ad$pender™ database for this research.
US advertising expenditure trends : long run effects and structural changes with new media introductions
In this paper we examine the historical time series of US advertising expenditure on different media, using a long-run equilibrium model, and whether the introduction of new media (TV, Yellow Pages, cable and the internet) created a significant structural change in the advertising industry. We use a multivariate vector error correction model allowing for broken trends. Our results show that internet and cable media cause a substantive shift only on the evolution of newspapers and outdoor, respectively, whereas TV and yellow pages entries create fundamental change in the spending levels of all incumbents, except for direct mail. We also find that the longrun elasticity between total advertising expenditures and the GDP is negative, implying that total advertising has counter-cyclical behavior. Furthermore, in the long-run, an increase in the internet investment results in a decrease in newspapers as well as magazines’ investment.
Ethnic Reunion and Cultural Affinity
Ethnic Reunion and Cultural Affinity (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
Ethnic reunion is the propensity of tourists to travel to regions where their ancestors originate from, while cultural affinity is the propensity of tourists to travel to regions with a shared cultural identity. This paper uses a “world migration matrix”, which records the year-1500 origins of the current populations of 159 countries, in a standard tourism gravity equation to provide the first empirical evidence of the existence of both these tourism traits at the global level. Our results remain robust even when controlling for other historical links, such as colonial legacy and regional trade agreements. By controlling for trade flows, we also show that this impact is unique to tourism. Ethnic reunion and cultural affinity are thus important — and neglected — constituents of tourism patterns (and of research), with important policy implications.
Performance evaluation of Tour de France cycling teams using Data Envelopment Analysis
Performance evaluation of Tour de France cycling teams using Data Envelopment Analysis (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
This paper uses a robust (order-m) Data Envelopment Analysis approach to evaluate the efficiency of Tour de France cycling teams for the period 2007- 2011. Since there are multiple ways in which this event can be successful for a cycling team, we take it that managers face strategic input decisions regarding team and rider characteristics. Specifically, we distinguish between ranking teams, sprint teams, and mixed teams, and compute for each of these an efficiency score as due to the team’s performance relative to similarly classified teams and an efficiency score that is the consequence of the team type. We find that ranking teams are generally more efficient than other types.
Designing Fees for Music Copyright Holders in Radio Services
Designing Fees for Music Copyright Holders in Radio Services (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
This paper investigates which is the most desirable payment schedule, from a social welfare standpoint, for compensating IPR holders for music broadcast by radio stations. A model of a radio station that acts as a monopoly with respect to listeners and sells ads in a competitive market is presented. Two types of fees, ad valorem and per unit, are examined. Exploiting the similarity between taxes and fees, we extend results from taxation theory in two-sided markets to show that the case where only one side (i.e. advertisers) pays, while the other (the listeners) receives the service for free, di§ers somewhat from the case thus far considered by the literature, in which both sides pay. The results mildly support the prevailing regulatory approach, based on ad valorem fees.
A Note on the “Linsanity” of Measuring the Relative Efficiency of National Basketball Association (NBA) Guards
A Note on the “Linsanity” of Measuring the Relative Efficiency of National Basketball Association (NBA) Guards (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
This note examines the productive efficiency of 62 starting guards during the 2011/12 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. This period coincides with the phenomenal and largely unanticipated performance of New York Knicks’ starting point guard Jeremy Lin and the attendant public and media hype known as Linsanity. We employ a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach that includes allowance for an undesirable output, here turnovers per game, with the desirable outputs of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks per game and an input of minutes per game. The results indicate that depending upon the specification, between 29 and 42 percent of NBA guards are fully efficient, including Jeremy Lin, with a mean inefficiency of 3.7 and 19.2 percent. However, while Jeremy Lin is technically efficient, he seldom serves as a benchmark for inefficient players, at least when compared with established players such as Chris Paul and Dwayne Wade. This suggests the uniqueness of Jeremy Lin’s productive solution and may explain why his unique style of play, encompassing individual brilliance, unselfish play, and team leadership, is of such broad public appeal.
Incentives for Quality over Time – The Case of Facebook Applications
Incentives for Quality over Time – The Case of Facebook Applications (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
We study the market for applications on Facebook, the dominant platform for social networking and make use of a rule change by Facebook by which high-quality applications were rewarded with further opportunities to engage users. We find that the change led to quality being a more important driver of usage while sheer network size became less important. Further, we find that update frequency helps applications maintain higher usage, while generally usage of Facebook applications declines less rapidly with age.
Outcome Uncertainty, Reference-Dependent Preferences and Live Game Attendance
Outcome Uncertainty, Reference-Dependent Preferences and Live Game Attendance (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
We develop a consumer choice model of live attendance at a sporting event with reference-dependent preferences. The predictions of the model motivate the “uncertainty of outcome hypothesis” (UOH) as well as fan’s desire to see upsets and to simply see the home team win games, depending on the importance of the reference-dependent preferences and loss aversion. A critical review of previous empirical tests of the UOH reveals significant support for models with reference-dependent preferences, but less support for the UOH. New empirical evidence from Major League Baseball supports the loss aversion version of the model.a
EU — Regional development and creativity
Regional development and creativity (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
The aim of this paper is to assess the role played by creativity and other components of human capital on the process of economic growth for 257 regions in the 27 member countries of the European Union. We first decompose the regional human capital endowment to distinguish between the educational component (the share of individuals with a university degree) and the creativity component, which considers the actual occupations of individuals in specific jobs like science, engineering, education, arts and entertainment. We define three non overlapping categories of human capital (creative graduates, bohemians and non creative graduates) which are simultaneously included in a spatial model as determinants of regional growth measured by labour productivity. After extending the analysis to control for other relevant factors which may affect regional development, such as physical, technological and social capital, cultural diversity, industrial and geographical characteristics, we provide robust evidence on the growth enhancing effects of graduates, in particular for those of the creative category.
The institutional framework for doing sports business: Principles of EU competition policy in sports markets
The institutional framework for doing sports business: Principles of EU competition policy in sports markets (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
The competition rules and policy framework of the European Union represents an important institutional restriction for doing sports business. Driven by the courts, the 2007 overhaul of the approach and methodology has increased the scope of competition policy towards sports associations and clubs. Nowadays, virtually all activities of sports associations that govern and organize a sports discipline with business elements are subject to antitrust rules. This includes genuine sporting rules that are essential for a league, championship or tournament to come into existence. Of course, ‘real’ business or commercial activities like ticket selling, marketing of broadcasting rights, etc. also have to comply with competition rules. Regulatory activities of sports associations comply with European competition rules if they pursuit a legitimate objective, its restrictive effects are inherent to that objective and proportionate to it. This new approach offers important orientation for the strategy choice of sports associations, clubs and related enterprises. Since this assessment is done following a case-by-case approach, however, neither a blacklist of anticompetitive nor a whitelist of procompetitive sporting rules can be derived. Instead, conclusions can be drawn only from the existing case decisions – but, unfortunately, this leaves many aspects open. With respect to business activities, the focus of European competition policy is on centralized marketing arrangements bundling media rights. These constitute cartels and are viewed to be anticompetitive in nature. However, they may be exempted from the cartel prohibition on efficiency and consumer benefits considerations. Here, a detailed list of conditions exists that centralized marketing arrangements must comply with in order to be legal. Although this policy seems to be well-developed at first sight, a closer look at the decision practice reveals several open problems. Other areas of the buying and selling behavior of sports associations and related enterprises are considerably less well-developed and do not provide much orientation for business.
Explaining Changes in Organizational Form: The Case of Professional Baseball
The Grossman-Hart-Moore (GHM) property rights model predicts the assignment of residual claims to the party with the largest effect on an asset’s value. While plausible, the model has proven relatively hard to test. In this paper, we develop a formal model based on GHM, and use it to analyze an industry that has seen substantial changes in the nature of asset ownership over time: professional baseball. Early in the 20th century, major and minor league baseball teams operated as separate and independent entities, By the middle of the 20th century, the vast majority of minor league teams had become “affiliates” of major league franchises, either through vertical integration or contractual agreements. By the end of the 20th century, full vertical integration had become much less common (and was restricted mostly to the lower minor league classifications), while the nature of contractual claims was essentially split, with major league clubs holding rights over players and coaches and minor league “owners” holding rights over local revenue sources. To explain these changes, we focus on two important functions of minor league baseball: providing local entertainment and training potential major league players. We conclude that as the relative value of these activities changed, so did the structure of ownership.
CA — The Implication of Peer and Parental Influences on University Attendance: A Gender Comparison
The Implication of Peer and Parental Influences on University Attendance: A Gender Comparison (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
In this study, we explore the e ffect of peers and family on University attendance and graduation. We find that parental expectations and peer e ffcts have a significant impact on the educational outcomes which operates through the interconnectedness between grades and aspirations during high school. Apart from this indirect path, parents and peers influence directly educational outcomes. Policy measures that exploit especially the parental influence on the child may be undertaken to balance the gender gap in University graduates in Canada.
Do newspaper articles on card fraud affect debit card usage?
Do newspaper articles on card fraud affect debit card usage? (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics (European Central Bank)
This paper investigates the impact of newspaper publications about debit card skimming fraud on debit card usage in the Netherlands using daily information from January 1st 2005 to December 31st 2008. Time-series analyses are employed to assess the daily fluctuations in aggregate debit card usage. The results show that newspaper articles that somehow make mention of the phenomenon of skimming fraud significantly affect the number of debit card payments. The direction of the effect depends on the type of skimming fraud addressed. Newspaper articles on fraud at points-of-sale (POS) and ticket machines depress the number of debit card payments. News on ATM fraud, by contrast, has a positive effect on debit card payments. This indicates that the temporarily created fear for using the debit card at the ATM is not automatically translated into fear for using the debit card at the POS. Instead, ATMs and POS terminals are perceived as substitutes. Although significant, all media effects found are relatively small in comparison with other factors such as calendar and holiday effects and daily rainfall. Moreover, the effects only last for one day, with consumers immediately reverting back to their regular payment behaviour. This corresponds to earlier results found in other research fields and suggests that consumers’ confidence in the debit card is relatively sturdy and not easily affected. Moreover, it might be an indication of consumers having a short memory when it comes to newspaper articles.
CA — Estimating the Value of Medal Success at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games
We estimate Canadians’ willingness to pay (WTP) for success by Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Canadian government subsidized elite athletes in the run up to the 2010 Games through the Own the Podium program, which was designed to increase Canada’s medal count. WTP estimates from a contingent valuation method (CVM) study using data from nationally representative surveys before and after the Games suggest that Own the Podium generated intangible benefits of between 3 and 5 times its cost. The aggregate value of the intangible benefits generated by the program was between $719 million and $3.4 billion.
The French Unhappiness Puzzle: The Cultural Dimension of Happiness
This article sheds light on the important differences in self-declared happiness across countries of equivalent affluence. It hinges on the different happiness statements of natives and immigrants in a set of European countries to disentangle the influence of objective circumstances versus psychological and cultural factors. The latter turns out to be of non-negligible importance in explaining international heterogeneity in happiness. In some countries, such as France, they are responsible for 80% of the country’s unobserved idiosyncratic source of (un-)happiness.
Influences on Sponsorship Deals in NASCAR: Indirect Evidence from Time on Camera
Influences on Sponsorship Deals in NASCAR: Indirect Evidence from Time on Camera (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
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 NASCAR where sponsorship values are generally not released to the public. We analyze a proportional proxy for driver sponsorship value: the value of time on camera. We find that the value of time on camera is influenced by driver performance but also by their experience and, in the case of two drivers, their family name-brand capital. The results confirm that sponsorship value in NASCAR is not only determined by what a driver has done most recently but, to some extent, what their fathers had done before them.
Pricing under the Threat of Piracy: Flexibility and Platforms for Digital Goods
Pricing under the Threat of Piracy: Flexibility and Platforms for Digital Goods (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics (Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper)
We consider the optimal design of flexible use in a digital-rights-management policy for a digital good subject to piracy. Consumers can acquire the digital good either as a licensed product or as an unlicensed copy. The ease of access to unlicensed copies is increasing in the flexibility accorded to licensed copies. The content provider has to trade off consumers’ valuation of a licensed copy against the sales lost to piracy. We enrich the basic model by introducing a “secure platform” that is required to use the digital good. We show that the platform allows for the socially optimal provision of flexibility for the digital good but only if both are sold by an integrated firm.
UK — Football Matches: the Effects on Crime
Football Matches: the Effects on Crime (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
The heavy police presence at football matches in England has reduced hooliganism in the stadium – but at what cost in terms of both policying budgets and under-protected places elsewhere in the neighbourhood? Olivier Marie examines the multiple effects of football matches on crime.
An economic analysis of online streaming: How the music industry can generate revenues from cloud computing
An economic analysis of online streaming: How the music industry can generate revenues from cloud computing (PDF)
Source: Research Papers in Economics
This paper investigates the upcoming business model of online streaming services allowing music consumers either to subscribe to a service which provides free-of-charge access to streaming music and which is funded by advertising, or to pay a monthly flat fee in order to get ad-free access to the content of the service accompanied with additional benefits. Both businesses will be launched by a single provider of streaming music. By imposing a two-sided market model on the one hand combined with a direct transaction between the streaming service and its flat-rate subscribers on the other hand, the investigation shows that it can be highly profitable to launch a business which is free-of-charge for subscribers if advertising imposes a weak nuisance to music consumers. If this is the case, and by imposing an endogenously determined level of advertising which will be provided by homogeneous advertisers, the analysis shows that the monopolistic streaming service increases the price for its flat-rate subscribers in order to stimulate free-of-charge demand and to capture higher revenues from advertisers. An extension of the model by illegal file-sharing reveals that an increase in copyright enforcement shifts rents from music consumers to the monopolistic provider, moreover a maximal punishment for piracy will be welfare-maximizing.
