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Prize Structure and Performance: Evidence from NASCAR

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  • Brad Humphreys

    (Department of Economics, West Virginia University, 1601 University Avenue, Morgantown, WV 26506-6025, USA)

  • Bernd Frick

    (Department 1: Management, Universität Paderborn, 33098 Paderborn, Germany)

Abstract

The predictions that emerge from tournament theory have been tested in a number of sports-related settings. Since sporting events involving individuals (golf, tennis, running, auto racing) feature rank order tournaments with relatively large payoffs and easily observable outcomes, sports is a natural setting for such tests. In this paper, we test the predictions of tournament theory using a unique race-level data set from NASCAR. Most previous tests of tournament theory using NASCAR data used either season level data or race level data from a few seasons. Our empirical work uses race and driver level NASCAR data for 1114 races over the period 1975–2009. Our results support the predictions of tournament theory: the larger the spread in prizes paid in the race, measured by the standard deviation or interquartile range of prizes paid, the higher the average speed in the race. Our results account for the length of the track, number of entrants, number of caution flags, and unobservable year- and week-level heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad Humphreys & Bernd Frick, 2019. "Prize Structure and Performance: Evidence from NASCAR," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:7:y:2019:i:4:p:102-:d:273152
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    Cited by:

    1. António Sérgio Ribeiro & Francisco Lima & Sascha Kraus & Ferran Calabuig, 2022. "Tournaments within football teams: players’ performance and wages," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 4884-4901, December.
    2. David M. Yaskewich, 2017. "Heterogeneous Ability and Risk Taking in a Rank-Order Tournament," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(8), pages 803-830, December.
    3. XiaoGang Che & Brad R. Humphreys, 2013. "Earnings and performance in women’s skiing," Chapters, in: Eva Marikova Leeds & Michael A. Leeds (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Women in Sports, chapter 6, pages 115-131, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Alan Deck & Cary Deck & Zhen Zhu, 2014. "Decision Making in a Sequential Game," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(2), pages 132-149, April.
    5. Nicolas Scelles & Qi Peng & Maurizio Valenti, 2021. "Do the Peculiar Economics of Professional Team Sports Apply to Esports? Sequential Snowballing Literature Reviews and Implications," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Eric Mao, 2023. "The Incentive Effects of Tournaments and Peer Effects in Team Production: Evidence from Esports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 24(2), pages 174-192, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    NASCAR; tournament theory; nonlinear prize structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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