Economics of the FIFA World Cup: Whether Economic Development Affects Performance — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Economics of the FIFA World Cup: Whether Economic Development Affects Performance

Name: Adam Milano
Major: Accounting and Finance
Hometown: Elgin, Illinois
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research
Funding: N/A

Abstract

International sporting events bring countries together and promote goodwill, peace, trade. My research examines the relationship between economic strength of countries and their performance in the World Cup compared to the Olympic Games. Past research has shown that the Olympic Games favor more prosperous countries. I am examining whether less developed countries have a more even footing in the World Cup.

I did statistical analysis regressing the top 30 FIFA World cup teams with economic factors such as population, GDP and GDP per capita.

My research shows that geography plays a large role and that economic development is not as strong of an influence in the World Cup compared the Olympic Games. It supports the importance of behavioral economics in that the proximity of a large fan base has a significant impact on results. Behavioral economics is a growing field: economic crises time and again have shown that models predicting movements in the economy solely based on rational behavior are flawed.

My work supports the need for adding a human element to research in economics and finance by exploring it on a very human, understandable, entertaining level. In short, money does not buy success in the World Cup.

Poster file