CSUEB economist on how sports can be used to test new business theories

• March 12, 2013 5:00am

An abundance of data from the sports world on the management, turnover, performance and compensation of professional athletes is finding a new purpose with economists. California Smart Business magazine interviewed Stephen Shmanske, professor emeritus of economics at Cal State East Bay, about what business leaders can learn from economists who use sports data to test market efficiencies and business theories.

“We can learn a lot about human nature, motivation and beating the odds by studying copious data from the world of sports,” said Shmanske. “Economists can review the results of golf or tennis tournaments to determine the optimal way to structure sales contests or other incentives.” For example, he said, when economists compared whether men and women perform differently based on prize structure, the researchers found no differences in performance when the participants were vying for the same purse.

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