A Short Course in Sports Economics - Paperback

by Brad R. Humphreys (Author)

This book is designed to be used in undergraduate sports economics classes. The book covers the standard economic models used in sports economics: short-run models of price setting and attendance, long-run models of team talent choice, the "two team" model of sports league outcomes, models of outcome uncertainty, and models of contests in sport. The book emphasizes the graphical and algebraic analysis of economic outcomes in sport. The book is designed for use in shorter classes: modules of one week or less, summer semester classes, intersession courses, etc. It can also be used as part of a longer, semester long course that includes supplemental readings from journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Author Biography

Brad R. Humphreys is a professor in the Department of Economics, College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He holds a PhD in economics from the Johns Hopkins University. He was on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Alberta before joining the WVU faculty in 2013. He twice testified before the United States Congress on the economic impact of professional sports teams and facilities. His research on sports economics has been featured in news outlets around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, USAToday, NPR's "Morning Edition", and BBC Radio. He has published more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals in economics and public policy. His research on the economics of participation in physical activity, the economics and financing of professional sports, the economics of gambling, and the economics of higher education has been published in academic journals in economics and policy analysis, including the Journal of Urban Economics, Health Economics, the Journal of Regional Science, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Empirical Economics, Public Finance Review, and Regional Science and Urban Economics. Since July 2011 he has served as Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Economic Policy, a general interest economics journal focused on economic policy analysis.