Relative age effect on labor market outcomes for high skilled workers – evidence from soccer

In sport and education contexts, children are divided into age-groups which are arbitrary constructions based on the admission dates. This age-group system is thought to determine differences in maturity between pupils within the same group, that is, relative age (RA). In turn, these within-age-group maturity differences produce performance gaps, that is, relative age effects (RAE), which might persist and affect the labor market outcome. I analyze the RAE on labor market outcomes using a unique dataset providing information on a particular group of high skilled workers: soccer players in the Italian major soccer league. In line with previous studies, evidence on the existence of RAE in terms of representativeness is found, meaning that players born relatively early in the age-group are over-represented, while players born relatively late are under-represented, even accounting for specific population trends. Moreover, players born relatively late in the age-group receive lower gross wages than players born relatively early. This wage gap seems to increase with age and in the quantile of the wage distribution

Production, efficiency and corruption in Italian Serie A : a DEA analysis

This paper uses data from Italian Serie A football to analyse the technical efficiency of Italian football clubs , utilising a panel dataset comprising season aggregated match statistics over ten seasons from 2000/01 to 2009/10 inclusive . While there has been considerable research on production and efficiency in most of the major European football leagues , corresponding evidence relating to Serie A is limited. T his paper addresses this imbalance , e stimating a production function for the league and the relative efficiency of 36 teams , taking into consideration the impact of the Calciopoli corruption scan dal in 2006 . To achieve this , Da ta Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models ha ve been used to calculate the frontiers of efficient production. The results highlight how playing style has changed in response to the corruption scandal , emphasizing the importance of attacking play in Serie A

Forecasting with social media: evidence from Tweets on soccer matches

Social media is now used as a forecasting tool by a variety of firms and agencies. But how useful are such data in forecasting outcomes? Can social media add any in- formation to that produced by a prediction/betting market? We source 13.8m posts from Twitter, and combine them with contemporaneous Betfair betting prices, to fore- cast the outcomes of English Premier League soccer matches as they unfold. Using a micro-blogging dictionary to analyse the content of Tweets, we find that the aggregate tone of Tweets contains significant information not in betting prices, particularly in the immediate aftermath of goals and red cards

The relative age effect on labour market outcomes – evidence from Italian football

Researchquestion:Thisstudyinvestigateswhethertherelativeage effect (RAE) persists in the long term and affects Italian-born footballers’ performance and wages. Research methods: A unique dataset on 1700 individual players’ remuneration and performance was collected and analysed through the chi-square goodness-of-fit, the Spearman’s rank correlation and an econometric model. Results and findings: This study contributes to the literature by providing clear results on long-term RAE. We find evidence of the RAE in terms of representativeness, which means that, in an age group, players born relatively early are overrepresented, while those born relatively late are underrepresented, even accounting for national birth trends. Moreover, although they perform similarly, the gross wages of players born relatively late are statistically significantly lower than those of players born relatively early. Implications: This situation needs to be considered by various football stakeholders and tackled accordingly to minimize the loss of potential youth football talent. Further research is needed to identify the determinants of RAE in the long ter

The relative age effect reversal among the National Hockey League elite

Like many sports in adolescence, junior hockey is organized by age groups. Typically, players born after December 31st are placed in the subsequent age cohort and as a result, will have an age advantage over those players born closer to the end of the year. While this relative age effect (RAE) has been well-established in junior hockey and other professional sports, the long-term impact of this phenomenon is not well understood. Using roster data on North American National Hockey League (NHL) players from the 2008-2009 season to the 2015-2016 season, we document a RAE reversal—players born in the last quarter of the year (October-December) score more and command higher salaries than those born in the first quarter of the year. This reversal is even more pronounced among the NHL “elite.” We find that among players in the 90th percentile of scoring, those born in the last quarter of the year score about 9 more points per season than those born in the first quarter. Likewise, elite players in the 90th percentile of salary who are born in the last quarter of the year earn 51% more pay than players born at the start of the year. Surprisingly, compared to players at the lower end of the performance distribution, the RAE reversal is about three to four times greater among elite players

Exploring entertainment utility from football games

Previous research exploring the role of belief dynamics for consumers in the entertainment industry has largely ignored the fact that emotional reactions are a function of the content and a consumer’s disposition towards certain protagonists. By analyzing 19 m tweets in combination with in-play information for 380 football matches played in the English Premier League we contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we present a setting for testing how belief dynamics drive behavior which is characterized by several desirable features for empirical research. Second, we present an approach for detecting fans and haters of a club as well as neutrals via sentiment revealed in Tweets. Third, by looking at behavioral responses to the temporal resolution of uncertainty during a game, we offer a fine-grained empirical test for the popular uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis in sports

Exploring entertainment utility from football games

Previous research exploring the role of belief dynamics for consumers in the entertainment industry has largely ignored the fact that emotional reactions are a function of the content and a consumer’s disposition towards certain protagonists. By analyzing 19 m tweets in combination with in-play information for 380 football matches played in the English Premier League we contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we present a setting for testing how belief dynamics drive behavior which is characterized by several desirable features for empirical research. Second, we present an approach for detecting fans and haters of a club as well as neutrals via sentiment revealed in Tweets. Third, by looking at behavioral responses to the temporal resolution of uncertainty during a game, we offer a fine-grained empirical test for the popular uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis in sports

Winners in the field versus winners in the media. Do clubs’ owners maximise wins, revenues or visibility?

Despite the large revenue growth rates exhibited in the main European football leagues, clubs seldom make profits. This paper applies SEM techniques to revisit the thrilling debate on whether maximising profits or sport performance is more realistic to describe clubs owners’ decisions at hiring talent. Earlier papers advocate that football clubs usually behave as winning maximisers rather than as profit maximisers. First, taking into account the degree of media visibility of football clubs, we re-examine the relationship between: (i) sport talent and sport attainments; and (ii) sport performance and revenue. Then, we study the extent to which, in addition to the twofold choice between profits and sport performance, clubs’ owners might also aim to maximizing their teams’ visibility in the media. To verify this hypothesis, we calculate an index of media value, which jointly capture on-field and off-field skills of players, thereby assessing the global talent that football teams concentrate. Applying path analysis techniques and structural equation models (SEM), we find a significant mediation role of the media value index concerning the link between teams’ sport performance and annual revenues