Beyond Economic Impact: An Alternative Rationale for the Public Subsidy of Major League Sports Facilities

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Crompton

Government contributions to the funding of major league facilities ipso facto recognize that some portion of the benefits accruing from such facilities accrue to the public in general, rather than being captured exclusively by the franchise owner. The challenge for facility advocates is to demonstrate the return on investment to the taxpayer. This has been elusive. The canard that substantial returns accrue from the direct economic impact of visitors to games has been discredited. A taxonomy of four alternate sources of spillover benefits that are most frequently cited is proposed: increased community visibility; enhanced community image; stimulation of other development; and psychic income. Justifications using to the first three of these alternates are conceptualized as focusing on external audiences, with the intent of encouraging their investment of resources in the community. In some contexts, some economic benefits may accrue from these sources, but in most cases they cannot be demonstrated to be sufficient to justify the taxpayers’ investment. It is argued that psychic income, which focuses internally on the benefits received by existing residents in the community, is likely to be key to justifying public subsidy of major league facilities. It is suggested that the contingency valuation method is an appropriate approach for measuring the psychic income provided by a professional sport franchise.

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Crompton ◽  
Dennis R. Howard ◽  
Turgut var

This paper identifies the pervasiveness, magnitude, and trends of public investment in major league sports facilities and describes the forces that typically direct and dictate the debate. In 2003 dollars, the total investment in facilities currently being used by franchises in the four major leagues in North America is almost $24 billion, of which over $15 billion was contributed by public entities. Four eras of funding these facilities are identified and described: the Gestation Era 1961-1969; the Public Subsidy Era 1970-1984; the Transitional (Public-Private Partnership) Era 1985-1994; and the Fully-Loaded (Private-Public Partnership) Era post 1994. There is a consistent trend of private contributions increasing across these eras, but public sector contributions remain substantial. The final section of the paper discusses the four primary sources of momentum undergirding this public investment: owner leverage, the community power structure, the stimulus of increasing costs, and the competitive balance rationale.


1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Crompton

Many sports events, facilities, and franchises are subsidized either directly or indirectly by investments from public sector funds. The scarcity of tax dollars has led to growing public scrutiny of their allocation; in this environment there is likely to be an increased use of economic impact analysis to support public subsidy of these events. Many of these analyses report inaccurate results. In this paper, 11 major contributors to the inaccuracy are presented and discussed. They include the following: using sales instead of household income multipliers; misrepresenting employment multipliers; using incremental instead of normal multiplier coefficients; failing to accurately define the impacted-area; including local spectators; failing to exclude “time-switchers” and “casuals;” using “fudged” multiplier coefficients; claiming total instead of marginal economic benefits; confusing turnover and multiplier; omitting opportunity costs; and measuring only benefits while omitting costs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (75) ◽  
pp. 344-360
Author(s):  
Maria Elisabeth Moreira Carvalho Andrade ◽  
Eliseu Martins

ABSTRACT This paper contributes by encouraging discussions about the public policy of setting tariffs for public services based on the value of the investment made by the providers of these services. The purpose of this study was, in an unprecedented way and by combining theories of equity valuation and finance, to identify the asset valuation method that can lead to a fair value and balance between an affordable price for the consumer and an adequate return on investment for the concessionaires. The value assigned to these assets affects the tariff in two ways: (i) via depreciation/amortization, which affects the cost of service; (ii) via the return on investment, which is the portion that corresponds to the investor’s profit. We analyzed the Brazilian electricity sector, in which the rates set by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) currently use the new replacement value (NRV) approach. We carried out empirical tests using data available on the ANEEL website from the second cycle periodic tariff review and information obtained in financial statements from 1995 onwards. The analysis included the NVR and restated historical cost (RHC) methods, the latter being updated by the extended consumer price index (IPCA). After the descriptive and statistical analyses, we used the test of means to verify the differences between the variables in terms of NRV vs. RHC. The first conclusion was the absence of a significant difference between the NRV and RHC methods; that is, on average, the replacement price showed no significant difference to what would be the pure and simple restatement of assets. But this was found to hide something relevant, the fact that this average is derived from two main groups: that of the consumers who are paying more for energy services than they should, which constitutes a visible benefit to investors and loss for these consumers, and that of the consumers who are paying less than they should, which benefits them but harms investors.


2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul McCrone ◽  
Martin Knapp ◽  
Mary Henri ◽  
David McDaid

SummaryAims– This paper seeks to provide a methodology to assess the cost-effectiveness of anti-stigma campaigns for people with mental health problems.Methods– The costs of running a national campaign in Scotland were obtained and combined with the number of adults in the Scottish population and the estimated number of people with improved attitudes towards people with mental health problems. A decision model was constructed to estimate the economic impact of a campaign in terms of increased use of services by people with depression and increased work time.Results– If the campaign caused 10% of changed attitudes then it was estimated to cost £35 per one less person who felt that people with mental health problems were dangerous and £186 per one less person who felt the public needs protection from people with mental health problems. The decision model suggested extra economic benefits (employment gains minus service costs) as a result of an anti-stigma campaign compared to the absence of a campaign.Conclusions– Data on the economic impact of anti-stigma campaigns are scarce and evaluation is intrinsically difficult. We have demonstrated a method to conduct such analyses. The model proposed here should be tested further as data become available.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Jaffee

This paper identifies and delineates a variant of neoliberal urbanism that grounds city-region economic development on the ability to gain financial and public support for large-scale infrastructure projects advancing particular forms of capital accumulation. More specifically, the focus is on the effort of city-regions to strategically exploit and expand geographic and physical assets to capture economic benefits associated with global value chains through the expansion of maritime ports. This development strategy requires sizable public investments in port infrastructure. In order to justify and convince the public and political officials of the wisdom of such investments, port officials commission economic impact studies. These are designed to demonstrate how the public investments will pay off in terms of economic development. This paper will critically examine this feature of the urban development strategy and its role in advancing a particular neoliberal development agenda. The analysis is placed in the larger context of actual existing neoliberalism, the shifting economic prospects of cities and regions, the rise of logistics and transportation, and inter-port competition for containerized cargo.


The university is considered one of the engines of growth in a local economy or its market area, since its direct contributions consist of 1) employment of faculty and staff, 2) services to students, and supply chain links vendors, all of which define the University’s Market area. Indirect contributions consist of those agents associated with the university in terms of community and civic events. Each of these activities represent economic benefits to their host communities and can be classified as the economic impact a university has on its local economy and whose spatial market area includes each of the above agents. In addition are the critical links to the University, which can be considered part of its Demand and Supply chain. This paper contributes to the field of Public/Private Impact Analysis, which is used to substantiate the social and economic benefits of cooperating for economic resources. We use Census data on Output of Goods and Services, Labor Income on Salaries, Wages and Benefits, Indirect State and Local Taxes, Property Tax Revenue, Population, and Inter-Industry to measure economic impact (Implan, 2016).


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110612
Author(s):  
Alice Libânia S Dias ◽  
Lisete Celina Lange ◽  
Aline Souza Magalhães

This article presents an approach to compensate waste pickers in the informal sector of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, via a Payment for Urban Environmental Services (PUES) instrument, called ‘Recycling Exchange’. The aim is to evaluate the effects of this instrument on the amount of waste diverted from landfill and reintroduced into the production chain, and to increase recognition of waste pickers’ contributions to the state’s economy. It was found that the ‘Recycling Exchange’ met the fundamental objectives of a PUES: the double social and economic benefits of the social inclusion of waste pickers in the execution of the public policy for solid waste management, and inducing (in the case of glass), ensuring and stabilising (plastic and paper) continuity of the activity of selling recyclables in times of wide price fluctuations for these recyclables. The instrument enhanced the provision of this environmental service and the positive externalities associated with recycling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-113
Author(s):  
Anna Pawlikowska-Piechotka

The tradition of school sports facilities has its roots in ancient civilizations, primarily in ancient Greece. The preserved ruins of gymnasiums at Delphi, Olympia, Millet, Priene, Dedina, Pergamon, Ephesus or Thermessos, document well that sports facilities were a major part of the education system. They served not only for students and sports training but were opened to the public, used for social gatherings, political meetings and disputes. Contemporary school sports facilities derived from the 19th-century concept of the school’s educational program. It also included the indoor and outdoor physical education classes and facilities used for ‘body-building exercises’ - as it was named. In Poland, according to the current basic curriculum of the Ministry of National Education, the goal of physical education is to shape the long life habit of physical activity. The school activities should develop the appropriate interests and attitudes of students. Therefore, school activities should meet the needs, interests and abilities of the individual student as fully as possible. The present regulations of the Ministry of Education demand, that such classes should take place in a well-equipped sports hall or on a school playground.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-238
Author(s):  
Christian Gjersing Nielsen ◽  
Line Bjørnskov Pedersen ◽  
Rasmus K. Storm

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP), in relation to having a professional first-tier football club in a medium-sized Danish municipality, when tangible economic benefits such as economic growth and/or inbound migration produced by these are absent. Design/methodology/approach Using the contingent valuation method on survey respondents, the study examines factors affecting WTP using binary logistic regression and interval regression and further extrapolates the WTP from the sample to the municipal population. Findings Citizens significantly value having a first-tier football club in their municipality even when tangible benefits are absent, although a large proportion of respondents stated to be against the municipality being financially involved in professional team sports clubs (PTSC). WTP is largely driven by interest in sports and the local football club. It is argued that the findings cannot be generalized across contexts. Research limitations/implications There can be circumstances where public subsidy of PTSCs is beneficial to economic welfare. However, authorities should be careful in their evaluation of whether to subsidize PTSCs. Originality/value The study expands on existing research by informing respondents about the lack of tangible benefits produced by PTSCs, hereby focusing on WTP on an informed basis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rima Shretta ◽  
Sheetal Prakash Silal ◽  
Olivier J. Celhay ◽  
Chris Erwin Gran Mercado ◽  
Shwe Sin Kyaw ◽  
...  

Background: The Asia-Pacific region has made significant progress against malaria, reducing cases and deaths by over 50% between 2010 and 2015. These gains have been facilitated in part, by strong political and financial commitment of governments and donors. However, funding gaps and persistent health system challenges threaten further progress. Achieving the regional goal of malaria elimination by 2030 will require an intensification of efforts and a plan for sustainable financing. This article presents an investment case for malaria elimination to facilitate these efforts. Methods: A transmission model was developed to project rates of decline of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria and the output was used to determine the cost of the interventions that would be needed for elimination by 2030. In total, 80 scenarios were modelled under various assumptions of resistance and intervention coverage. The mortality and morbidity averted were estimated and health benefits were monetized by calculating the averted cost to the health system, individual households, and society. The full-income approach was used to estimate the economic impact of lost productivity due to premature death and illness, and a return on investment was computed. Results: The study estimated that malaria elimination in the region by 2030 could be achieved at a cost of USD 29.02 billion (range: USD 23.65-36.23 billion) between 2017 and 2030. Elimination would save over 400,000 lives and avert 123 million malaria cases, translating to almost USD 90 billion in economic benefits. Discontinuing vector control interventions and reducing treatment coverage rates to 50% will result in an additional 845 million cases, 3.5 million deaths, and excess costs of USD 7 billion. Malaria elimination provides a 6:1 return on investment. Conclusion: This investment case provides compelling evidence for the benefits of continued prioritization of funding for malaria and can be used to develop an advocacy strategy.


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