IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/spe/wpaper/0702.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Soccer Success and National Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Marikova Leeds

    (Moravian College)

  • Michael A. Leeds

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

A growing literature has examined what characteristics lead countries to succeed or fail in international soccer. We build on this literature by building a model of national success, where success is measured by the number of “FIFA points” a national team earned. We use the model to generate testable hypotheses regarding the impact of a nation’s political heritage and institutions on its soccer performance. Using OLS and Poisson regressions, we corroborate previous studies and find that success increases with income, population, and having hosted a World Cup competition. We also find that a country’s political institutions and colonial heritage affect its soccer performance. In particular, being a wealthy democracy adds greatly to soccer performance. We also find that the success of a country’s club teams is a good predictor of the national team’s success. We conclude that club success reflects a nation’s willingness and ability to finance soccer success.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Marikova Leeds & Michael A. Leeds, 2007. "International Soccer Success and National Institutions," Working Papers 0702, International Association of Sports Economists;North American Association of Sports Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:spe:wpaper:0702
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/spe/Leeds_Soccer.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    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.
    2. Branko Milnaovic, 2003. "GLOBALIZATION AND GOALS: Does soccer show the way?," Labor and Demography 0312001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    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. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Ruud Koning (ed.), 2015. "The Economics of Competitive Sports," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15770.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Henseke, Golo, 2009. "Country performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 108, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    17. 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.
    18. Seo-Young Cho, 2013. "A League of Their Own - Female Soccer, Male Legacy and Women's Empowerment," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 223, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    19. repec:lic:licosd:26510 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:zbw:rwirep:0501 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kavetsos, Georgios & Szymanski, Stefan, 2010. "National well-being and international sports events," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 158-171, April.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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..
    5. Frank Daumann & Florian Follert & Daniel Hamacher & Lasse Plöhn, 2023. "The early bird catches the worm: The impact of first‐mover advantage on long‐term elite team sport success," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1465-1475, April.
    6. Kavetsos, Georgios & Szymanski, Stefan, 2010. "National well-being and international sports events," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 158-171, April.
    7. repec:zbw:rwirep:0501 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:lic:licosd:26510 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. 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.
    10. Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Ruud Koning (ed.), 2015. "The Economics of Competitive Sports," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15770.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Garry A. Gelade & Paul Dobson, 2007. "Predicting the Comparative Strengths of National Football Teams," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(1), pages 244-258, March.
    15. Henseke, Golo, 2009. "Country performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 108, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Eiji Yamamura, 2012. "Effect of Linguistic Heterogeneity on Technology Transfer: An Economic Study of FIFA Football Rankings," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 40(1), pages 85-99, March.
    18. John Manuel Luiz & Riyas Fadal, 2011. "An economic analysis of sports performance in Africa," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(10), pages 869-883, August.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    soccer;

    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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:spe:wpaper:0702. 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: Victor Matheson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaseeea.html .

    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.