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International Soccer Success and National Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Michael A. Leeds

    (Temple University, mleeds@temple.edu)

  • Eva Marikova Leeds

    (Moravian College and Temple University Japan)

Abstract

A growing literature has examined the causes of success in international soccer. We build on this literature by constructing a model of international success, as measured by the number of ``Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) points'' a national team has earned and by the resulting rank. We generate testable hypotheses about the impact of a nation's political regime, colonial heritage, and institutions on its soccer performance. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) and negative binomial regressions, we show that our proxies for these variables affect soccer performance. Specifically, we find that the international success of a country's club teams positively affects the national team's success.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Leeds & Eva Marikova Leeds, 2009. "International Soccer Success and National Institutions," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(4), pages 369-390, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:10:y:2009:i:4:p:369-390
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002508329864
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Hoffmann & Lee Chew Ging & Bala Ramasamy, 2002. "The Socio-Economic Determinants of International Soccer Performance," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 5, pages 253-272, November.
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    3. Robert Hoffmann & Lee Chew Ging & Victor Matheson & Bala Ramasamy, 2006. "International women's football and gender inequality," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(15), pages 999-1001.
    4. Peter Macmillan & Ian Smith, 2007. "Explaining International Soccer Rankings," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 8(2), pages 202-213, May.
    5. Robert Houston & Dennis Wilson, 2002. "Income, leisure and proficiency: an economic study of football performance," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(14), pages 939-943.
    6. Daniel K. N. Johnson & Ayfer Ali, 2004. "A Tale of Two Seasons: Participation and Medal Counts at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 85(4), pages 974-993, December.
    7. North, Douglass C., 1971. "Institutional Change and Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 118-125, March.
    8. Andrew B. Bernard & Meghan R. Busse, 2004. "Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Resources and Medal Totals," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 413-417, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zaytseva, I., 2018. "Social Capital as a Factor of Sport Achievements: The Case of National Football Teams," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 34-60.
    2. Meshael Batarfi & James Reade, 2021. "Why are We So Good At Football, and They So Bad? Institutions and National Footballing Performance," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 63-80, February.
    3. Joshua Congdon-Hohman & Victor Matheson, 2011. "International Women's Soccer and Gender Inequality: Revisited," Working Papers 1107, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    4. Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Ruud Koning (ed.), 2015. "The Economics of Competitive Sports," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15770.
    5. Roberto Gásquez & Vicente Royuela, 2014. "Is Football an Indicator of Development at the International Level?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 827-848, July.
    6. Roberto Gásquez & Vicente Royuela, 2016. "The Determinants of International Football Success: A Panel Data Analysis of the Elo Rating," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(2), pages 125-141, June.
    7. Pablo Castellanos García & Jesús A. Dopico Castro & José M. Sánchez Santos, 2007. "The economic geography of football success: empirical evidence from european cities," Rivista di Diritto ed Economia dello Sport, Centro di diritto e business dello Sport, vol. 3(2), pages 67-88, Settembre.
    8. Joshua Congdon-Hohman & Victor A. Matheson, 2013. "International women’s soccer and gender inequality: revisited," Chapters, in: Eva Marikova Leeds & Michael A. Leeds (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Women in Sports, chapter 16, pages 345-364, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Rockerbie, Duane, 2014. "Canada at the Crossroads: Improving International Performance by Establishing a New Canadian Soccer League," MPRA Paper 60375, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. 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.
    11. Henseke, Golo, 2009. "Country performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 108, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    12. Melanie Krause & Stefan Szymanski, 2019. "Convergence versus the middle-income trap: the case of global soccer," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(27), pages 2980-2999, June.
    13. Julia Bredtmann & Carsten J. Crede & Sebastian Otten, 2014. "The Effect of Gender Equality on International Soccer Performance," University of East Anglia Applied and Financial Economics Working Paper Series 065, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    14. Vicente Royuela & Roberto Gásquez, 2019. "On the Influence of Foreign Players on the Success of Football Clubs," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(5), pages 718-741, June.
    15. Seo-Young Cho, 2013. "A League of Their Own: Female Soccer, Male Legacy and Women's Empowerment," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1267, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    16. David Butler & Robert Butler & Justin Doran & Sean O’Connor, 2018. "Explaining international footballer selection through Poisson modelling," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(2), pages 296-306, May.
    17. Wladimir Andreff & Madeleine Andreff, 2015. "Economic prediction of sport performances from the Beijing Olympics to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa: the notion of surprising sporting outcomes," Post-Print halshs-01244495, HAL.
    18. Marek M. Kaminski, 2022. "How Strong Are Soccer Teams? The “Host Paradox” and Other Counterintuitive Properties of FIFA’s Former Ranking System," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, March.
    19. Kin-Man Wan & Ka-U Ng & Thung-Hong Lin, 2020. "The Political Economy of Football: Democracy, Income Inequality, and Men’s National Football Performance," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 981-1013, October.
    20. Wladimir Andreff & Madeleine Andreff, 2015. "Economic prediction of sport performances from the Beijing Olympics to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa: the notion of surprising sporting outcomes," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01244495, HAL.
    21. repec:zbw:rwirep:0501 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Kavetsos, Georgios & Szymanski, Stefan, 2010. "National well-being and international sports events," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 158-171, April.
    23. Kikuta, Kyosuke & Uesugi, Mamoru, 2023. "Do Politically Irrelevant Events Cause Conflict? The Cross-continental Effects of European Professional Football on Protests in Africa," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 179-216, January.
    24. Arzhenovskiy, Sergey & Churikova, Svetlana, 2017. "Performance of Russian football clubs: Econometric analysis of panel data," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 47, pages 123-133.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    soccer; FIFA rankings; institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism

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