Monday, 9 May, 2016

15:30 | Applied Micro Research Seminar

Prof. Michael A. Leeds (Temple University) “Incentives and Institutions: The Case of Nippon Professional Baseball”

Prof. Michael A. Leeds

Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA


Authors: Eva Marikova Leeds and Michael A. Leeds

Abstract: In the setting of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), this paper examines the effect of two different policies, creating more competitive labor markets and wage dispersion, on economic outcomes.  While free agency, which ostensibly reduces monopsony power in the labor market, brings large increases in salary in most professional sports, we find that it does not do so in NPB.  Moreover, different performance measures affect salary in MLB and NPB.  We are able to examine the effect of wage dispersion on team success because rich baseball data allow us to hold team ability constant, which most previous studies have been unable to do.  Thus, given ability, we show that wage dispersion in NPB has a positive impact both on the winning percentage and attendance of a team.  Our results confirm previous results from NPB and contradict results from MLB, thus showing that that the institutional setting in which one implements a policy affects economic outcomes.


Full Text:  “Incentives and Institutions: The Case of Nippon Professional Baseball”

 

 

17:00 | Public Lecture

Prof. Jan Švejnar (Columbia University) “Does Wealth Inequality Matter for Growth? The Effect of Billionaire Wealth, Income Distribution, and Poverty”

The Applied Economics Discovery Hub invites you to a public lecture by Columbia University Professor, Jan Švejnar, on the issues of wealth inequality, political connections and their impact on economic growth.

CERGE-EI co-founder, Prof. Švejnar will cover his recent paper, Does wealth inequality matter for growth? The effect of billionaire wealth, income distribution, and poverty, which was published with Sutirtha Bagchi in The Journal of Comparative Economics last year. 

More information about the event can be found on the Applied Economics Discovery Hub event page.

Sign up to secure your spot!