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Selection Bias and Peer Effects in Team Sports: the Effect of Age Grouping on Earnings of German Soccer Players

Ashworth, J.; Heyndels, B.

Authors

B. Heyndels



Abstract

This article analyzes how age grouping in youth competitions and soccer education programs affects wage formation at the professional level. A simple theoretical model shows that professional players born late after the cutoff date are expected to earn systematically higher wages than their early-born peers. Two discriminating factors are responsible for this: a systematic bias in the talent detection system and peer effects in the production process of human (sports) capital. The authors demonstrate the existence of such an effect among (native) German professional soccer players. Estimating an earnings function for players in the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 seasons, the authors find clear evidence of a month-of-birth-related wage bias. Players born late after the cutoff date earn systematically higher wages, though this effect is not discernible in all positions; it is strongest for goalkeepers and defenders but not evident for forwards.

Citation

Ashworth, J., & Heyndels, B. (2007). Selection Bias and Peer Effects in Team Sports: the Effect of Age Grouping on Earnings of German Soccer Players. Journal of Sports Economics, 8(4), 355-377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002506287695

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Aug 1, 2007
Deposit Date Apr 20, 2010
Journal Journal of Sports Economics
Print ISSN 1527-0025
Electronic ISSN 1552-7794
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 4
Pages 355-377
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002506287695
Keywords Relative age effects, Talent detection, Peer effects, Wage bias.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1553236