Olympic Participation and Performance Since 1896

25 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2001

See all articles by Gerard H. Kuper

Gerard H. Kuper

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business

Elmer Sterken

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: January 2001

Abstract

We analyze the decision to participate and Olympic performance at the country level. We use an unbalanced panel of 118 countries over 24 editions of the Olympic Summer Games. The main focus of the paper is on economic, geographic and demographic explanations of Olympic participation and success. We estimate the impact of income per capita, population size, home advantage, and institutional variables on participation and success rates. We present separate results for events before the Second World War and after. These results show that income is an important determinant of Olympic participation and success. Socialist countries send more athletes to the games and have more success in medal counts. The home advantage has become less prominent.

Keywords: Olympic performance, participation and success

JEL Classification: C23, O57, Z10

Suggested Citation

Kuper, Gerard H. and Sterken, Elmer, Olympic Participation and Performance Since 1896 (January 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=274295 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.274295

Gerard H. Kuper (Contact Author)

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

Postbus 72
9700 AB Groningen
Netherlands

Elmer Sterken

University of Groningen - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

Postbus 72
9700 AB Groningen
Netherlands

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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