An Economic Evaluation of the Moneyball Hypothesis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4029946 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jahn K Hakes (0000-0002-6515-9050, Albion College, Albion, Michigan.), Raymond D Sauer (Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 173-185 |
| Publication date | 2006-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.20.3.173 |
| OpenAlex | W2316895320 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 4 |
Michael Lewis's book, Moneyball, describes how an innovative manager working for the Oakland Athletics successfully exploited an inefficiency in baseball's labor market over a prolonged period of time. We evaluate Lewis's claims by applying standard econometric procedures to data on player productivity and compensation from 1999 to 2004. These methods support Lewis's argument that certain baseball skills were valued inefficiently in the early part of this period, and that this inefficiency was profitably exploited by managers with the ability to generate and interpret statistical knowledge. Consistent with Lewis's story and economic reasoning, as knowledge of the inefficiency became increasingly dispersed across baseball teams the market corrected the original mispricing
Classical economics · Economics · Inefficiency · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Microeconomics · Productivity · American Sports and Literature · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Sports Analytics and Performance
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |