Impact of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games on employment and wages in Georgia

Using a standard differences-in-differences (DD) technique and a modified DD technique in the slopes, this paper determines that hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games boosted employment by 17% in the counties of Georgia affiliated with and close to Olympic activity, relative to employment increases in other counties in Georgia (the rate of growth increased 0.002 percentage points per quarter). Estimation of a random-growth model confirms a positive impact of the Olympics on employment. In addition, the employment impact is shown not to be merely a 'metropolitan statistical area (MSA) effect'; employment in the northern Olympic venue areas was found to increase 11% more post- versus pre-Olympics than it did in other, similar southern MSAs. The evidence of an Olympic impact on wages is weak.
1. Introduction In September 1990, Atlanta won the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. In spite of the approximately $2.5 billion price tag, the benefits derived from hosting [...]