IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0325025.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multicultural teams: Does national diversity associate with performance in professional soccer?

Author

Listed:
  • Thadeu Gasparetto

Abstract

This study examines whether the national diversity of players in multicultural teams affects the performance of professional soccer clubs. I analyze data from the top-tier leagues of six European countries – England, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, and the Netherlands – covering the 2015/2016–2020/2021 seasons. These leagues were selected because they impose no limits on the number of foreign players in senior squads, providing a clear view of this phenomenon. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimations in a forward stepwise approach, I find that national diversity does not correlate with club performance. However, the total number of foreign players is positively associated with performance, with each additional foreign player correlating with a 0.42% increase in win percentage. Moreover, the most complete model also indicates that an additional domestic league title is associated with a 0.99% increase in win percentage per title, while participation in the UEFA Champions League is associated with a 13.6% higher win percentage. Future research should explore the causal mechanisms underlying this relationship, examining how specific attributes of foreign players, such as playing style and experience, contribute to performance. Additionally, studies could investigate how management practices, particularly the adaptation of foreign players to a new country and culture, influence their impact on club success.

Suggested Citation

  • Thadeu Gasparetto, 2025. "Multicultural teams: Does national diversity associate with performance in professional soccer?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0325025
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0325025
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0325025&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0325025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feess, Eberhard & Muehlheusser, Gerd, 2003. "Transfer fee regulations in European football," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 645-668, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Weimar & Katrin Scharfenkamp, 2019. "Effort reduction of employer‐to‐employer changers: Empirical evidence from football," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 277-291, April.
    2. Harrie A. A Verbon, 2007. "Migrating Football Players, Transfer Fees and Migration Controls," CESifo Working Paper Series 2004, CESifo.
    3. repec:lic:licosd:26510 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Helmut Dietl & Egon Franck & Markus Lang, 2008. "Why football players may benefit from the ‘shadow of the transfer system’," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 419-419, December.
    5. Markus LANG & Alexander RATHKE & Marco RUNKEL, 2010. "The Economic Consequences Of Foreigner Rules In National Sports Leagues," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 31, pages 47-64.
    6. 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.
    7. Hoey, Sam & Peeters, Thomas & Principe, Francesco, 2021. "The transfer system in European football: A pro-competitive no-poaching agreement?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. Haan Marco & Koning Ruud & Witteloostuijn Arjen van, 2012. "The Effects of Institutional Change in European Soccer," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(3), pages 318-335, June.
    9. Paul Downward, 2014. "English professional football," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 17, pages 277-297, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Eberhard Feess & Gerd Mühlheußer, 2002. "Economic Consequences of Transfer Fee Regulations in European Football," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 221-237, May.
    11. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Camille Landais & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Taxation and International Migration of Superstars: Evidence from the European Football Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1892-1924, August.
    12. Eberhard Feess & Michael Gerfin & Gerd Muehlheusser, 2015. "Contracts As Rent‐Seeking Devices: Evidence From German Soccer," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 714-730, January.
    13. Bernd Frick & Rob Simmons, 2014. "The footballers’ labour market after the Bosman ruling," Chapters, in: John Goddard & Peter Sloane (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Professional Football, chapter 13, pages 203-226, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Helmut Dietl, 2010. "Besonderheiten des Sports ‐ Was rechtfertigt eine "eigene Ökonomik"?," Working Papers 0137, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
    15. Helmut Dietl & Egon Franck & Markus Lang & Alexander Rathke, 2010. "Organizational Differences between U.S. Major Leagues and European Leagues: Implications for Salary Caps," Working Papers 0122, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
    16. Burdekin, Richard C.K. & Franklin, Michael, 2015. "Transfer spending in the English premier league: the haves and the have nots," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 232, pages 4-17, May.
    17. Oliver Gürtler, 2012. "A Strategic Rationale for the Use of Sell–On Fees in European Sports," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 13(1), pages 76-84, February.
    18. Berlinschi, Ruxanda & Schokkaert, Jeroen & Swinnen, Johan, 2013. "When drains and gains coincide: Migration and international football performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Benno Torgler, 2004. "The Economics of the FIFA Football Worldcup," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 287-300, May.
    20. Branko Milnaovic, 2003. "GLOBALIZATION AND GOALS: Does soccer show the way?," Labor and Demography 0312001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. MacLeod, W. Bentley, 2011. "Great Expectations: Law, Employment Contracts, and Labor Market Performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 18, pages 1591-1696, Elsevier.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0325025. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.