Dividing the Spoils: An Empirical Study of Two Industries
Abstract
This dissertation examines the forces that influence the distribution of money in both the sports industry and the defense industry. The method to test for these influences is empirical. Both industries offer ample data sets that facilitate testing of the hypothesized influences. Chapter Two addresses the impact of new professional sports venues on athletes' salaries. In particular, the case of baseball is considered. To this point, the research on new baseball stadiums has focused primarily on a stadium's impact on local communities. This research is novel in shifting the focus to the impact of a new stadium on the athlete. Using data from 1990 to 1999, it is shown that players, particularly pitchers, do in fact receive a higher salary when playing for a team in a new stadium, ceteris paribus. Furthermore, it is shown that this higher salary is driven by rent sharing between player and owner. This conclusion results from the evidence that shows that a new stadium has a slight negative impact on the marginal productivity of the player. Chapter Three examines the extent to which the distribution of defense spending is dictated by political forces. This research extends previous work in which political variables are shown to have some impact in the distribution of defense prime contracts by state. By extending the data series to include the 1990's, trends that were apparent from 1963 to 1989, appear to no longer hold. This result may be the function of an institutional shift resulting from the fall of the Soviet threat in the 1990s.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA410731
Entities
People
- David Marzo
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology