One-Loop Quadratic Divergences of the Dual Non-Linear Sigma Model in Four-Dimensional Spacetime

Following a review of the dual description of the non-linear sigma model we investigate the one-loop quadratic divergences. We use the covariant background field method for the general case and apply the results to the important example of $SU(2)$.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX2e, no figures, uses axodraw package for Feynman diagrams. Axodraw available via anonymous ftp, ftp://ftp.nikhef.nl/pub/form/axodraw/export DVI version of preprint available via anonymous ftp or WWW; ftp://hep2.phys.soton.ac.uk/pub/preprints/rdsquad.dvi http://wwwhep.phys.soton.ac.uk/hepftp/pub/preprints/rdsquad.dv

Race and the evaluation of signal callers in the national football league

Until recently, the position of quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) was not an option for black athletes. Today many teams employ black quarterbacks, a development that might suggest race is no longer relevant when it comes to the evaluation of signal callers in the NFL. To examine this contention, this paper explores the relationship between player salary, performance, and race at the quarterback position over the period 1995 to 2006. We find that blacks and whites play this position differently. Specifically, black quarterbacks are more likely to run with the football. This skill, though, is not compensated in the market. Consequently, there is evidence that blacks face an uncompensated entry barrier in this particular occupation

Race and the evaluation of signal callers in the national football league

Until recently, the position of quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) was not an option for black athletes. Today many teams employ black quarterbacks, a development that might suggest race is no longer relevant when it comes to the evaluation of signal callers in the NFL. To examine this contention, this paper explores the relationship between player salary, performance, and race at the quarterback position over the period 1995 to 2006. We find that blacks and whites play this position differently. Specifically, black quarterbacks are more likely to run with the football. This skill, though, is not compensated in the market. Consequently, there is evidence that blacks face an uncompensated entry barrier in this particular occupation.

New issues in attendance demand: the case of the English football league

This paper uses an attendance demand model with panel data on over 4,000 games to examine economic problems of fixture congestion in English Football League schedules. We find that televised midweek Champions League matches involving English Premier League clubs have substantial adverse impacts on lower division Football League gate attendance. This suggests that affected clubs may have a case for compensation from the Premier League for loss of gate revenue from this source. Scheduling of home games close to one another also has an adverse impact on attendance. Reorganisation of fixture schedules and/or redistribution of income would help offset adverse impacts on team revenues from midweek scheduling.

Does it pay to specialize? The story from the Gridiron

In the field of personnel economics, there are few opportunities to convincingly test for salary returns to specialization as against versatility or multi-tasking. This paper performs such a test by modeling returns to performance measures associated with two different skills practiced by running backs in the National Football League. We find pronounced gains to specialization with substantial predicted differences in returns for alternative skills. Moreover, these differences vary across the salary distribution. In the top half of the salary distribution, especially, model simulations show that specialists in either particular skill generate higher marginal returns than versatile players.

Robust estimates of the impact of broadcasting on match attendance in football

The paper employs data from 2,884 matches, of which 158 were televised, in the second tier of English football (currently known as The Football League Championship). It builds a model of the determinants of attendance that is designed to yield estimates of the proportionate changes in the size of crowds resulting from games being shown on either free-to-air or subscription based channels. The model has two innovatory features. First, it controls for the market size of home and away teams very precisely by including local population measures constructed from the application of GIS software and information on competition from other clubs. Second, it employs the Hausman-Taylor random effects estimator in order to take explicit account of the endogeneity of the television coverage variable and of other variables typically included in earlier studies based on ordinary least squares or fixed effects models of attendance. The Hausman-Taylor estimates of the impact of broadcasting are greater than those reported in such studies. In the case of free-to-air television, the negative impact is estimated as over 20 percent but for subscription television, which carried most of the transmissions, the negative effect was only of the order of 5 percent

Mixing the princes and the paupers: Pay and performance in the National Basketball Association

We investigate how team and individual performances of players in the National Basketball Association respond to variations in intra-team pay inequality. By breaking down team dispersion into conditional and expected components, we find that expected pay dispersion has a positive effect on team and individual performance. We find that team and individual performances are essentially orthogonal to conditional pay inequality, counter to the hypotheses of fairness and cohesion proposed in the literature both for sports and general occupations. A change in collective bargaining regime in 1996 had little impact on either team or player productivity.

The relationship between betting and lottery play: a high frequency time-series analysis

The substitutability of different gambling products is an important concern for any jurisdiction contemplating deregulation of its gambling sector. We apply a novel daily time-series data set of daily turnover from one of Britain's leading bookmakers to analyse potential substitution between lottery play and bookmaker betting. We find some evidence that bettors do substitute away from horse race, dog race and numbers betting when the effective price of lottery tickets is unusually low, i.e. when there is a rollover or Superdraw. This substitution has a highly specific pattern of timing that varies by sector. Our results further suggest that bettors rationally engage in forward-looking substitution within their betting portfolios.

Freedom of entry, market size and competitive outcome: evidence from English soccer

The paper tests, in the context of an open sports league, whether greater success is achieved by clubs in markets with larger populations. The relationship is strong but, to a limited extent, mitigated by more clubs establishing in large markets.

Mission oriented study of advanced nuclear system parameters, phase IV, volume I Final report, May 1965 - Dec. 1966

Guidelines and assumptions for manned Mars stopover mission planning analyses - nuclear system parameter