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Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Development and Medal Totals

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  • Andrew B. Bernard
  • Meghan R. Busse

Abstract

This paper examines determinants of Olympic success at the country level. Does the U.S. win its fair share of Olympic medals? Why does China win 6% of the medals even though it has 1/5 of the world's population? We consider the role of population and economic development in determining medal totals from 1960-1996. We also provide out of sample predictions for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew B. Bernard & Meghan R. Busse, 2000. "Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Development and Medal Totals," NBER Working Papers 7998, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7998
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    1. Shughart, William F, II & Tollison, Robert D, 1993. "Going for the Gold: Property Rights and Athletic Effort in Transitional Economies," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 263-272.
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    Cited by:

    1. Du Bois, Cindy & Heyndels, Bruno, 2012. "Revealed comparative advantage and specialisation in athletics," Edition HWWI: Chapters, in: Büch, Martin-Peter & Maennig, Wolfgang & Schulke, Hans-Jürgen (ed.), Zur Ökonomik von Spitzenleistungen im internationalen Sport, volume 3, pages 25-47, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    2. Robert Hoffmann & Lee Chew Ging & Bala Ramasamy, 2004. "Olympic Success and ASEAN Countries," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 5(3), pages 262-276, August.
    3. Ferda Halicioglu, 2005. "Can We Predict The Outcome Of The International Football Tournaments : The Case Of Euro 2000?," Microeconomics 0503008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Cindy Du Bois & Bruno Heyndels, 2007. "Revealed Comparative Advantage and Specialization in Athletics," IASE Conference Papers 0702, International Association of Sports Economists.
    5. Moonjoong Tcha, 2004. "The Color of Medals," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 5(4), pages 311-328, November.
    6. Michael W. Klein, 2002. "Work and Play: International Evidence of Gender Equality in Employment and Sports," NBER Working Papers 9081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Robert Hoffmann & Lee Chew Ging & Bala Ramasamy, 2002. "The Socio-Economic Determinants of International Soccer Performance," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 253-272, November.
    8. Hongbin Li & Lingsheng Meng & Qian Wang, 2009. "The government's role in China's Olympic glory," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(25), pages 3313-3318.
    9. Sotiriadou, Kalliopi (Popi) & Shilbury, David, 2009. "Australian Elite Athlete Development: An Organisational Perspective," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 137-148, August.
    10. Imad A. Moosa & Lee Smith, 2004. "Economic Development Indicators as Determinants of Medal Winning at the Sydney Olympics: An Extreme Bounds Analysis," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 288-301, September.
    11. Stefan Szymanski, 2010. "The Economic Design of Sporting Contests," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Comparative Economics of Sport, chapter 1, pages 1-78, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Michael W. Klein, 2004. "Work and Play," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 5(3), pages 227-242, August.
    13. Moonjoong Tcha & Vitaly Pershin, 2003. "Reconsidering Performance at the Summer Olympics and Revealed Comparative Advantage," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 4(3), pages 216-239, August.
    14. Sanela Skoric & Zlatko Hodak, 2011. "The system of sports financing and management in the Republic of Croatia," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 29(2), pages 443-464.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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