The Economic Impact on the Dominican Republic of Baseball Player Exports to the USA

Abstract

This paper pulls together into one practical model two strands of economic theory to assess the impact of baseball player exports on the aggregate economic performance of the Dominican Republic. On one hand, foreign trade theory predicts a strong correlation between a country’s exports and economic performance measured as per capita income. On the other hand, microeconomic research finds a positive, but statistically insignificant, impact of sports activities on local economies. Analysis finds a strong correlation between baseball player exports and economic performance for the years 1962-2004, suggesting that both the USA and the Dominican Republic benefit from encouraging baseball player trade and repatriation of baseball export earnings.baseball player exports; sports exports; sports and economic performance; sports export-led growth