Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9701
Authors: Michael Lechner; Paul Downward
Abstract: Based on a unique composite dataset measuring heterogeneous sports participation, labour market outcomes and local facilities provision, this paper examines for the first time the association between different types of sports participation on employment and earnings in England. Clear associations between labour market outcomes and sports participation are established through matching estimation whilst controlling for some important confounding factors. The results suggest a link between different types of sports participation to initial access to employment and then higher income opportunities with ageing. However, these vary between the genders and across sports. Specifically, the results suggest that team sports contribute most to employability, but that this varies by age across genders and that outdoor activities contribute most towards higher in-comes.
Keywords: human capital; labour market; matching estimation; sports participation
JEL Codes: C21; I12; I18; J24; L83
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| sports participation (Z22) | labor market outcomes (J48) |
| team sports (Z20) | employability (J68) |
| fitness and outdoor activities (L83) | income potential (J17) |
| sports participation (Z22) | unemployment rates (J64) |
| sports participation (Z22) | earnings (J31) |