Graduation Year

Fall 2011

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Richard Burdekin

Reader 2

Gregory Hess

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2011 Peter Meyer

Abstract

Previous work found evidence that the racial composition of NBA teams was positively correlated with the racial composition of their metropolitan market areas during the 1990s. This paper finds continued evidence of this relationship in the 2000s, with an accompanying attendance boost from the incorporation of white players on teams located in whiter areas. There is also evidence that white players receive a salary premium relative to black players of equal performance quality. An examination of player performance indicates that demand for foreign players with the skill set of a forward or center is higher than demand for players of equal quality from the U.S. However, an analysis of salary discrimination related to foreign players produced no conclusive evidence.

Download

Share

COinS