Economic Lessons from the World of Sports

The world of sports offers a broad laboratory to study many topics in microeconomics, while providing uniquely rich data on decisions, performance, and compensation. We will use theoretical and empirical tools to study topics such as behavioral biases in decision making, strategic behavior in games and tournaments, operation and efficiency of betting markets, salary determination, the value of diversity, evidence and implications of discrimination, the industrial organization of professional and collegiate leagues, and public policy issues concerning public infrastructure and exemptions from antitrust laws.