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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2023
INTRODUCTION
The National Basketball Association, the world's premier professional basketball league, attracts the best players in the world and draws large live crowds and television audiences. Outcomes in the NBA reflect economic decisions made by teams, coaches and players, and decisions made by referees share important similarities with decisions made by law enforcement officials such as judges and police officers. These features facilitate the use of economic models and concepts to understand outcomes in the NBA. A substantial body of scholarly research in economics focuses on analysing and understanding outcomes in the NBA.
This chapter selectively reviews economic research focused on the NBA to better understand the underlying economic decisions made by players, referees, teams and the league. We focus on three main areas of economic research: the presence and dimensions of referee bias; the existence and impact of discrimination in salaries, hiring and by fans; and the identification and impact of superstar players.
A substantial body of economic research examines the quality of refereeing and the impact of referee decisions in the NBA. The NBA experienced several high-profile instances of referee misconduct, including the arrest and conviction of a long-serving referee (Tim Donaghy) for fixing games. The NBA has a long history of discrimination against people of colour, which has been addressed by a large body of scholarly research. As the NBA because increasingly globalized in terms of players, this research expanded to include analysis of discrimination against foreign-born players.
In addition, there is a sizeable literature focused on superstars in the NBA. Superstars exist in many settings, including sports, popular music, television, lawyers, textbooks and others. The NBA contains small-team rosters and attracts substantial fan and media attention. These factors facilitate superstar research in this setting. Much of the existing research on the economics of superstars focuses on the NBA.
REFEREE BIAS
Biases influence decisions made in many settings. A lack of data on outcomes that might be influenced by biases hinders empirical research into the nature and extent of biases in the economy.
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