Wage Discrimination in US Sports: Comparative Analysis
| Author: | Bc. Dmitrii Ivantsev |
|---|---|
| Year: | 2019 - summer |
| Leaders: | PhDr. Radek Janhuba M.A., Ph.D. |
| Consultants: | |
| Work type: | Bachelors |
| Language: | English |
| Pages: | 57 |
| Awards and prizes: | |
| Link: | https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/zzp/detail/202778/ |
| Abstract: | The issue of salary discrimination in the US sport has been a controversional topic, largely dscussed in the context of racial discrimination in American society. Numerous papers written in this field in the previous years investigated each of the US Major Leagues separately. This thesis provides a comparative analysis of wage discrimination in the Nationall Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and National Football League. The data on players’ contracts for all leagues were collected based on 2015-2018 unrestricted free agents’ signings with a different sample of players for each specific year. We created five unique datasets for the comparative analysis, including one NBA, two NFL and two MLB related samples, where the MLB datasets represent batting and pitching players, while the NFL samples refer to the players on the offensive and defensive positions. For the estimation of players’ productivity, we considered the average performance statistics in three years prior to the first contract year. By adding dummy variables reflecting players’ race into the regressions and applying the Ordinary Least Squares method we could compare the size of the wage premium paid to the representatives of the specific race. The results of our regressions do not provide sufficient evidence of salary discrimination in any of the considered leagues. |
