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Do Sports Crowd Out Books? The Impact of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation on Grades

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Listed:
  • Michael Insler

    (United States Naval Academy)

  • Jimmy Karam

    (United States Naval Academy)

Abstract

We investigate the infl uence of intercollegiate athletic participation on grades using data from the U.S. Naval Academy. Athletic participation is an endogenous decision with respect to educational outcomes. To identify a causal effect, we develop an instrument via the Academy’s random assignment of students into peer groups. Instrumental variables estimates reveal that sports participation reduces athletes’ grades, on average, by nearly one-quarter of a letter grade. This finding has implications beyond college, as we also show that grades--not athletic participation--are most strongly associated with post-collegiate outcomes such as military tenure and promotion rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Insler & Jimmy Karam, 2016. "Do Sports Crowd Out Books? The Impact of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation on Grades," Departmental Working Papers 50, United States Naval Academy Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:usn:usnawp:50
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jerome Segura III & Jonathan Willner, 2019. "Athleticism in NCAA D-III: It Ain’t Only Football That Matters," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(7), pages 929-958, October.
    2. Martin Grossmann, 2021. "Asymmetric Opportunities After an Unsuccessful Sports Career," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(5), pages 587-612, June.
    3. Insler, Michael A. & McMurrey, Bryce & McQuoid, Alexander F., 2019. "From broken windows to broken bonds: Militarized police and social fragmentation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 43-62.

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