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Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling

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Author Info
Mark Duggan
Steven D. Levitt

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Abstract

Although the theoretical literature on corruption is well developed, empirical work in this area has lagged because it has proven difficult to isolate corrupt behavior in the data. In this paper, we look for evidence of corruption in an unlikely place: the highest echelons of Japanese sumo wrestling. This paper provides strong statistical evidence documenting match rigging in sumo wrestling. A non-linearity in the incentive structure of promotion leads to gains from trade between wrestlers on the margin for achieving a winning record and their opponents. We show that wrestlers win a disproportionate share of the matches when they are on the margin. Increased effort can not explain the findings. Winning on the bubble is more frequent when the two competitors have met often in the past. Success on the bubble tends to rise over the course of a wrestler's career, but declines in his last year, consistent with the game theoretic predictions. Wrestlers who are victorious when on the bubble lose more frequently than would be expected the next time they meet that opponent, suggesting that part of the payment for throwing a match is future payment in kind. Systematic differences across wrestling stables suggest that the stables play a role in facilitating the corruption. In times of increased media scrutiny, the match rigging disappears.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 7798.

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Date of creation: Jul 2000
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Publication status: published as Duggan, Mark and Steven D. Levitt. "Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption In Sum Sumo Wrestling," American Economic Review, 2002, v92(5,Dec), 1594-1605.
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7798

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  1. Porter, Robert H & Zona, J Douglas, 1993. "Detection of Bid Rigging in Procurement Auctions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 518-38, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Mauro, Paolo, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Topel, Robert H, 1983. "On Layoffs and Unemployment Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 541-59, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Chevalier, Judith & Ellison, Glenn, 1997. "Risk Taking by Mutual Funds as a Response to Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(6), pages 1167-1200, December.
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  5. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1993. "Corruption," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 108(3), pages 599-617, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    • Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1993. "Corruption," NBER Working Papers 4372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. McAfee, R Preston & McMillan, John, 1992. "Bidding Rings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 579-99, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    • McAfee, R. Preston & McMillan, John., 1990. "Bidding Rings," Working Papers 726, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
  9. Rose-Ackerman, Susan, 1975. "The economics of corruption," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 187-203, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Mark Duggan & Steven D. Levitt, 2000. "Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling," NBER Working Papers 7798, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. David Kalist & Stephen Spurr, 2007. "Baseball Errors," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 2(4), pages 3. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Strulik, Holger, 2007. "Riding High - Success in Sports and the Rise of Doping Cultures," Diskussionspapiere der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Hannover dp-372, Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
  3. Raaj Sah, 2005. "Corruption Across Countries and Regions: Some Consequences of Local Osmosis," Working Papers 10-2005, Singapore Management University, School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Caruso, Raul, 2007. "THE Economics of Match-Fixing," MPRA Paper 3085, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. David Becker & Daniel Kessler & Mark McClellan, 2004. "Detecting Medicare Abuse," NBER Working Papers 10677, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gould, Eric D. & Kaplan, Todd R., 2008. "Learning Unethical Practices from a Co-worker: The Peer Effect of Jose Canseco," IZA Discussion Papers 3328, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  7. Stefano DellaVigna & Eliana La Ferrara, 2007. "Detecting Illegal Arms Trade," NBER Working Papers 13355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Steven Levitt, 2002. "Rotten Apples: An Investigation of the Prevalence and Predictors of Teacher Cheating," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series 1078, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Enrico Moretti, 2005. "Did Iraq Cheat the United Nations? Underpricing, Bribes, and the Oil for Food Program," NBER Working Papers 11202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. V. Bhaskar, 2004. "Rational Adversaries? Evidence from Randomized Trials in the Game of Cricket," Economics Discussion Papers 578, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Steven Levitt, 2002. "Testing the Economic Model of Crime:The National Hockey League's Two-Referee Experiment," Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1014-1014. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan, 2007. "Electoral Accountability and Corruption in Local Governments: Evidence from Audit Reports," IZA Discussion Papers 2843, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  13. Mark Duggan & Steven D. Levitt, 2002. "Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1594-1605, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Björn Frank, 2004. "Zehn Jahre empirische Korruptionsforschung," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 73(2), pages 184-199. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Garicano, Luis & Palacios-Huerta, Ignacio, 2005. "Sabotage in Tournaments: Making the Beautiful Game a Bit Less Beautiful," CEPR Discussion Papers 5231, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Thomas J. Dohmen, 2005. "Social Pressure Influences Decisions of Individuals: Evidence from the Behavior of Football Referees," IZA Discussion Papers 1595, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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