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Heterogeneous Worker Ability and Team-Based Production: Evidence from Major League Baseball, 1920-2009

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Author Info

  • Papps, Kerry L.

    () (University of Bath)

  • Bryson, Alex

    () (National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR))

  • Gomez, Rafael

    () (University of Toronto)

Abstract

A detailed longitudinal dataset is assembled containing annual performance and biographical data for every player over the entire history of professional major league baseball. The data are then aggregated to the team level for the period 1920-2009 in order to test whether teams built on a more even distribution of observed talent perform better than those teams with a mixture of highly able and less able players. The dependent variable used in the regressions is the percentage of games a team wins each season. We find that conditioning on average player ability, dispersion of both batting and pitching talent displays an optimal degree of inequality, in that teams with too high or too low a spread in player ability perform worse than teams with a more balanced distribution of offensive and defensive talent. These findings have potentially important applications both inside and outside of the sporting world.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 5225.

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Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2010
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Labour Economics, 2011, 18 (3), 310-319
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5225

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Keywords: firm performance; skill dispersion; baseball;

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References

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Blog mentions

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  1. Superstars' baleful effects
    by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2013-05-22 13:11:26
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Cited by:
  1. Sander Hoogendoorn & Simon C. Parker & Mirjam van Praag, 2012. "Ability Dispersion and Team Performance: A Field Experiment," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-130/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
  2. Hoogendoorn, Sander M. & Parker, Simon C. & van Praag, Mirjam, 2012. "Ability Dispersion and Team Performance: A Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 7044, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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