Limitations of the Relative Standard Deviation of Win Percentages for Measuring Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues
University of Otago Economics Discussion Papers No. 0908
13 Pages Posted: 11 Aug 2009 Last revised: 21 Jul 2010
Date Written: March 2010
Abstract
The relative standard deviation of win percentages, the most widely used measure of within-season competitive balance, has an upper bound which is very sensitive to variation in the numbers of teams and games played. Taking into account this upper bound provides additional insight into comparisons of competitive balance across leagues or over time.
Keywords: competitive balance, relative standard deviation, idealized standard deviation, economics of sport
JEL Classification: D63, L83
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Owen, P. Dorian, Limitations of the Relative Standard Deviation of Win Percentages for Measuring Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues (March 2010). University of Otago Economics Discussion Papers No. 0908, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1446569 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1446569
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
Feedback
Feedback to SSRN