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Own-Nationality Bias: Evidence From Uefa Champions League Football Referees

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  • Bryson R. Pope
  • Nolan G. Pope

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecin12180-abs-0001"> We examine the existence and magnitude of own-nationality bias. Using player-match level data from 12 seasons of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and referee assignment policies that pair players and referees from the same country, we determine the bias that referees exhibit toward players from their native country. Players officiated by a referee from the same country receive a 10% increase in beneficial foul calls. Referees' own-nationality bias is more pronounced for national team players, players at home, and in later stages of the tournament. Elite referees exhibit as much, or more, own-nationality bias as their less experienced counterparts . ( JEL L83, J15)

Suggested Citation

  • Bryson R. Pope & Nolan G. Pope, 2015. "Own-Nationality Bias: Evidence From Uefa Champions League Football Referees," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(2), pages 1292-1304, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:2:p:1292-1304
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Michela Ponzo & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2018. "Does the Home Advantage Depend on Crowd Support? Evidence From Same-Stadium Derbies," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(4), pages 562-582, May.
    3. Jakub Červený & Jan C. Ours & Martin A. Tuijl, 2018. "Effects of a red card on goal-scoring in World Cup football matches," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 883-903, September.
    4. Alex Krumer & Felix Otto & Tim Pawlowski, 2022. "Nationalistic bias among international experts: evidence from professional ski jumping," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(1), pages 278-300, January.
    5. Andrea Albanese & Stijn Baert & Olivier Verstraeten, 2020. "Twelve eyes see more than eight. Referee bias and the introduction of additional assistant referees in soccer," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, February.
    6. Rubin, Amir & Rubin, Eran & Segal, Dan, 2023. "Editor home bias?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    7. Dmitry Dagaev & Sofia Paklina & J. James Reade & Carl Singleton, 2024. "The Iron Curtain and Referee Bias in International Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(1), pages 126-151, January.
    8. Michael J. Lopez, 2016. "Persuaded Under Pressure: Evidence From The National Football League," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1763-1773, October.
    9. Sandra Schneemann & Hendrik Scholten & Christian Deutscher, 2018. "The Impact of Age on Nationality Bias: Evidence from Ski Jumping," Papers 1808.03804, arXiv.org.
    10. Subhasish M. Chowdhury & Sarah Jewell & Carl Singleton, 2023. "Can Awareness Reduce (and Reverse) Identity-driven Bias in Judgement? Evidence from International Cricket," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2023-10, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    11. Richard Faltings & Alex Krumer & Michael Lechner, 2023. "Rot‐Jaune‐Verde: On linguistic bias of referees in Swiss soccer," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 380-406, August.
    12. Faltings, Richard & Krumer, Alex & Lechner, Michael, 2019. "Rot-Jaune-Verde. Language and Favoritism: Evidence from Swiss Soccer," Economics Working Paper Series 1915, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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