EC325-The Economics of Sports and Games

Module Provider: School of Politics, Economics and International Relations
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites: EC201 Intermediate Microeconomics and EC204 Introductory Econometrics or EC201 Intermediate Microeconomics and EC207 Empirical Methods for Economics and Social Sciences or EC201NU Intermediate Microeconomics and EC204NU Introductory Econometrics
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Prof James Reade
Email: j.j.reade@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

“Ask not what economics can do for sports - ask what sports can do for economics”.*

Sports can offer rare moments of clarity to social scientists within an otherwise complex real world.  The competitive environments within sport provide laboratories to study human behaviour, to test theories, and to observe the effects of policy.  For example, professional sports offer a rare glimpse of game theory in action, in a strictly controlled environment outside of the laboratory, and with participants who ought to be truly expert in strategic behaviour (e.g., penalty kicks in football, the serve in tennis, and picking a googly or slower ball in cricket).

 

This module also introduces students to the “Peculiar Economics of Professional Sports”** itself. We consider various sports and games from an economic perspective, as well as other markets related to sports, addressing questions such as:

Is the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis still relevant, or do we instead prefer to watch sports for thei surprise and suspence?

Are betting markets efficient or are there systematic biases that bettors could potentially profit from?

Is a major tournament, such as the Football World Cup or Olympic Games, ever economically beneficial to the host city and country? Or is hosting instead just a gift to the world (or a political gesture)?

 

*Quotation from Bar-Eli, Krumer and Morgulev in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, December 2020.

**The title of a seminal article by Walter Neale in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1964.

Aims:

Students will be encouraged to think about sport and games from an economic perspective, both in terms of applying economic theories in the realm of sport, but also observing that sport offers a useful testing ground for many general economic theories.

Assessable learning outcomes:

At the end of this module students should be able to:

1. Describe a range of ways in which economic theory has been applied to the context of sport


2. Apply economic theories to understand behaviour and interaction in sport


3. Design models which allow economic theory to be tested through the prism of sport


4. Appreciate the role sport can play in helping us understand more about how economies and various markets work more generally

Additional outcomes:

Outline content:

All or some of the following topics will be covered:

1. The theory of contests


2. Competitive balance/inequality


3. The demand for sport


4. Theories of a league and talent allocation


5. Superstar economics


6. Game theory in the arena


7. Mega events (e.g. the Olympics)


8. Forecasting in sport and the efficiency of betting and prediction markets

Global context:

This module covers the global world of sports, covering a diverse range of contexts.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		20	2
Practicals classes and workshops		5
Guided independent study:		155	18
Total hours by term	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	70
Project output other than dissertation	30

Summative assessment- Examinations:

3-hour in-person examination worth 70% of the overall module mark.  Exams take place in the summer term.

The examination for this module will require a narrowly defined time window and is likely to be held in a dedicated exam venue.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Project (30%), requiring students to write at length on a topic form the course, use econometric methods (some proficiency with statistical software is assumed), applying the taught theory to real world examples, and using academic and non-academic literature to support arguments and conclusions.

Formative assessment methods:

Tutorial problem sets and mock exam papers will be provided, with feedback on these provided throughout the term. 

The Project includes a formative assessment step, whereby research questions and plans are evaluated, and feedback provided by the lecturers.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A minimum overall mark of 40%. 

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-examination for all modules takes place in August of the same year.



Reassessment is exam only; this will be of the same length and type as the final exam.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: None; however a recommended text to supplement some of the lectures is “The Economics of Football” by Stephen Dobson and John Goddard (Online ISBN:9780511973864; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511973864).

2) Specialist equipment or materials:  None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear:  None

4) Printing and binding:  There may be optional costs associated with photocopying or printing sources listed on the reading list relating to this module. Please note that the Library charges approximately 5p per photocopy.

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification:  None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence:  None

Last updated: 24 August 2023