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The Italian Job: Match Rigging, Career Concerns and Media Concentration in Serie A

Author

Listed:
  • Boeri, Tito

    (Bocconi University)

  • Severgnini, Battista

    (Copenhagen Business School)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on competition and corruption, by drawing on records from Calciopoli, a judicial inquiry carried out in 2006 on corruption in the Italian soccer league. Unlike previous studies, we can estimate the determinants of match rigging and use this information in identifying corruption episodes in years in which there are no pending judicial inquiries. We find evidence of corruption activity well before Calciopoli. Career concerns of referees seem to play a major role in match rigging. An implication of our study is that a more transparent selection of the referees and evaluation of their performance is essential in removing incentives to match rigging. Another implication is that in presence of significant "winners-take-all" effects, more competitive balance may increase corruption unless media concentration is also significantly reduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Boeri, Tito & Severgnini, Battista, 2008. "The Italian Job: Match Rigging, Career Concerns and Media Concentration in Serie A," IZA Discussion Papers 3745, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3745
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Di Martino & Michelangelo Vasta, 2012. "Happy 150th Birthday Italy? Institutions and Economic Performance Since 1861," Department of Economics University of Siena 662, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    2. Wladimir Andreff (ed.), 2011. "Contemporary Issues in Sports Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14146.
    3. Wladimir Andreff, 2016. "4 Corruption in Sport," Post-Print halshs-01279785, HAL.
    4. Tito Boeri & Battista Severgnini, 2014. "The decline of professional football in Italy," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 19, pages 322-335, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Wladimir Andreff & Gaël Raballand, 2011. "Is European Football’s Future to Become a Boring Game?," Chapters, in: Wladimir Andreff (ed.), Contemporary Issues in Sports Economics, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. James Reade, 2014. "Detecting corruption in football," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 25, pages 419-446, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. John K. Wilson & Richard Pomfret, 2014. "Public Policy and Professional Sports," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15381.
    8. John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), 2014. "Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14821.
    9. Wladimir Andreff, 2016. "4 Corruption in Sport," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01279785, HAL.
    10. Boeri, Tito & Severgnini, Battista, 2011. "Match rigging and the career concerns of referees," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 349-359, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    random effect ordered probit; career concerns; corruption; concentration; Monte Carlo simulations; soccer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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