Search

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of sport employees to assess tournament conditions and resulting employee outcomes as well as suggestions to overcome detrimental tournament conditions. Securing a job within the sport industry is fiercely competitive, and the work environment is often harsh. Examining employee experiences within these competitive conditions can help organizations identify necessary tournament adjustments in order to maximize employee output and performance. We collected data from employees working within intercollegiate athletic departments (n = 1724). We utilized an imposed interpretive approach to learn about their working experiences in intercollegiate athletics and interpreted the data through a tournament theory lens. Due to a combination of industry passion and pressure of aspiring applicants willing to take their position, they embraced the opportunity to compete in the tournament. Participants expressed limited motivation beyond reaching middle management, creating concerns about tournament conditions. This study extends literature in organizational behavior and tournament theory by providing insight into the intended/unintended consequences of work and life within a "tournament" setting. Our findings reveal tournament condition concerns raised by the participants, increasing the possibility of employees' willingness to trade off pay benefits in order to secure other, desirable benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the issues of players' heterogeneity in individual efforts and winning probability in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) games. ATP players' personal characteristics and performance from 2011 to 2013 are collected. The results show that a negative impact of the matchup's heterogeneity on the intensity of the game is found. The evidence thus indicates that the two players play harder when the heterogeneity is smaller. Evidence also indicate that the pecuniary incentive in tournaments is supported, and appearance of a superstar makes his opponent exert less effort. In the odds ratio analysis for the players' heterogeneity, a rank differential increases a favorite player with 1.004% winning percentage in ATP matches. Younger, lower BMI, experienced, and right-hand players are more likely to win. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue d'Economie Politique is the property of Editions Dalloz Sirrey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revue d'Economie Politique is the property of Editions Dalloz Sirrey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper provides a comprehensive study of the causality between pay and performance for professional sports teams. By using the total salary payment, as well as the dispersion of salary payment of the baseball teams in Taiwan, we engage in a simulta- neous regression of a Granger Causality Test for each team's salary structures and their corresponding performance. Our empirical results show that the causality only runs from the dispersion of salary payment to team performance, and not vice versa. As such, both the tournament hypothesis, which emphasizes the effect of salary dispersion, and the Yankee paradox, which proposes the negative externality for a team with high payroll, are thus confirmed. The one-way causality results suggest that teams must rely more on internal wage adjustments, especially on the dispersion of salary, under the league with strict restrictions on the mobility of players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]