HAVING GOOD FRIENDS IS A GOOD THING: THE EFFECTS OF PEERS AND SUPERSTARS ON PERFORMANCE IN SWIMMING COMPETITIONS
WEN-JHAN JANE, JIA-LING YAO , JYE-SHYAN WANG
Abstract:
By exploiting an unusually rich panel data set from the National Database of Student Athletes, this article addresses the issue of peer effects and superstar effects on performance in multi-stage swimming competitions. Four key findings are presented. First, the evidence from relay teams supports a positive inter-team peer effect from competitors in a male relay race, but a negative inter-team peer effect from competitors in a female relay race. Second, the evidence from both female and male relay teams shows that there exists a positive intra-team peer effect from teammates. In our estimations for female relay races, a foolish teammate does more harm (+3.11 seconds) than a brilliant opponent does good (+0.55 seconds) in the estimation of the Heckman Selection Model based on panel data. Third, a male team with average-quality swimmers performs better than a team with dispersed-quality swimmers. Fourth, for the super-team effects in these tournaments, on average, the female relay teams’ (/male relay teams’) times are approximately 2.85(/2.09) seconds faster/slower when the previous year’s winning team participates.
Keywords:
Heterogeneous tournaments; Multi-stage tournaments; Peer effects; Superstar effects
DOI: 10.52950/ES.2018.7.1.003
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APA citation:
WEN-JHAN JANE, JIA-LING YAO , JYE-SHYAN WANG (2018). Having Good Friends is a Good Thing: The Effects of Peers and Superstars on Performance in Swimming Competitions. International Journal of Economic Sciences, Vol. VII(1), pp. 39-64. , DOI: 10.52950/ES.2018.7.1.003
Data:
Received: 16 Feb 2018
Revised: 30 Mar 2018
Accepted: 6 May 2018
Published: 20 May 2018
Copyright © 2018, Wen-jhan Jane et al, krisenwerk@gmail.com