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The Causal Economic Effects of Olympic Games on Host Regions

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  • Matthias Firgo

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of hosting Olympic Games on the regional economy in the short- and long-run. For identification, runners-up in the Olympic bidding process are used to construct the counterfactual for Olympic host regions. In the short-run, hosting Summer Olympics boosts regional GDP per capita by about 3 to 4 percentage points relative to the national level in the year of the event and the year before. There is also evidence for positive long-run effects, but results on the latter are not statistically robust. In contrast, Winter Olympics do not have a positive impact on host regions. If anything, they lead to a temporal decline in regional GDP per capita in the years around the event.

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  • Matthias Firgo, 2019. "The Causal Economic Effects of Olympic Games on Host Regions," WIFO Working Papers 591, WIFO.
    • Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2019:i:591
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    File URL: https://www.wifo.ac.at/wwa/pubid/62111
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    3. Seung-Jin Han & Won-Jae Lee & So-Hee Kim & Sang-Hoon Yoon & Won Shick Ryu & Hyunwoong Pyun & Daehwan Kim, 2022. "Effects of the Olympic Announcement and the Actual Event on Property Values: The Case of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Olympic Games; mega events; public infrastructure; regional development; causal effects; sports economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R53 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy
    • Z28 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - Policy
    • Z38 - Other Special Topics - - Tourism Economics - - - Policy

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