The Economics of Sport

Zimbalist (economics, Smith College) collects important articles published between 1956 and 1999, pertaining to the relatively new field of sports economics. Volume I (31 contributions) discusses the theory of sports leagues, antitrust analysis and sports leagues (the question as to whether leagues are monopolies or single entities), and labor markets (the ongoing search for the proper modeling of sports production functions that would assess a player’s impact on revenue, managerial quality, and other factors). Volume II (41 contributions) covers discrimination in labor markets (hiring, salaries, retention, and positional segregation), maximizing profit for a team owner, the economic impact of sports teams and facilities, and the question as to whether athletic success in college sports leads to more student applications, a higher quality student body, and/or larger endowment gifts. A final section addresses miscellaneous topics such as incentive effects in golf, the presence of moral hazard in baseball, and economic issues affecting European soccer. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)