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Economics and the Summer Olympics

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Rathke

    (University of Zurich)

  • Ulrich Woitek

    (University of Zurich)

Abstract

Applying stochastic frontier analysis, we estimate distance to frontier of countries in the production of success at the Summer Olympic Games since the 1950s. Our measures of success are medal shares and a broader concept including Olympic diplomas. Following Bernard and Busse (2004), population and GDP are used as inputs. Although the impact of GDP is always positive, we show that the sign of the population effect depends on wealth and population size of a country. The results show that the spread of distance to frontier is very wide over time, across countries, gender, and sports: not only resource endowment matters but also utilization of resources. These differences can be seen as caused by differences in financial support, training methods, organization, or culture. Using a method proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), the authors build on well-documented results in the literature and identify the channels through which planned economies and host countries generate Olympic success. The method allows shedding light on aspects of recent history, such as the consequences of the breakdown of the former Soviet Union.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Rathke & Ulrich Woitek, 2008. "Economics and the Summer Olympics," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(5), pages 520-537, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:9:y:2008:i:5:p:520-537
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002507313743
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Roberto Gásquez & Vicente Royuela, 2014. "Is Football an Indicator of Development at the International Level?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 827-848, July.
    2. Franklin G. Mixon Jr. & Richard J. Cebula, 2022. "Property Rights Freedom and Innovation: Eponymous Skills in Women's Gymnastics," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(4), pages 407-430, May.
    3. Jie Wu & Zhixiang Zhou & Liang Liang, 2010. "Measuring the Performance of Nations at Beijing Summer Olympics Using Integer-Valued DEA Model," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(5), pages 549-566, October.
    4. Pedro Garcia‐del‐Barrio & Carlos Gomez‐Gonzalez & José Manuel Sánchez‐Santos, 2020. "Popularity and Visibility Appraisals for Computing Olympic Medal Rankings," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2137-2157, September.
    5. Wladimir Andreff & Madeleine Andreff, 2015. "Economic prediction of sport performances from the Beijing Olympics to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa: the notion of surprising sporting outcomes," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01244495, HAL.
    6. Caroline Buts & Cind Du Bois & Bruno Heyndels & Marc Jegers, 2013. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Success at the Summer Paralympics," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 14(2), pages 133-147, April.
    7. Alexandre de Cássio Rodrigues & Carlos Alberto Gonçalves & Tiago Silveira Gontijo, 2019. "A two-stage DEA model to evaluate the efficiency of countries at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1538-1545.
    8. Emilio Gómez-Déniz & Nancy Dávila-Cárdenes & Alejandro Leiva-Arcas & María J. Martínez-Patiño, 2021. "Measuring Efficiency in the Summer Olympic Games Disciplines: The Case of the Spanish Athletes," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(21), pages 1-15, October.
    9. Nadim Nassif, 2018. "World Ranking Of Countries In Elite Sport," Rivista di Diritto ed Economia dello Sport, Centro di diritto e business dello Sport, vol. 14(2), pages 55-75, ottobre.
    10. Leeds Eva Marikova & Leeds Michael A., 2012. "Gold, Silver, and Bronze: Determining National Success in Men’s and Women’s Summer Olympic Events," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(3), pages 279-292, June.
    11. Pravin K. Trivedi & David M. Zimmer, 2014. "Success at the Summer Olympics: How Much Do Economic Factors Explain?," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-34, December.

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