Money Ball, Money Pit, or Money Misallocation? — 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

Money Ball, Money Pit, or Money Misallocation?

Name: Elena Kelsh
Major: Economics
Hometown: Antioch, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors: Brent McClintock
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

This thesis aims to address the following two issues as they pertain to the professional baseball industry: financial stability and pay equity. The continuously increasing salaries present in Major League Baseball (MLB) accompanied with the recent decline in ticket prices and attendance levels suggest that the business of baseball could be threatened, which recent literature has yet to address. At the same time, since the Reserve Clause was struck down in 1975, empirical work has yet to be done to test its effectiveness at removing player exploitation. Using performance statistics and salary data from the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2017 season, this thesis attempts to target these shortcomings. While this study confirms baseball’s ability to financially stay afloat, it shows the increased level of pay discrimination and exploitation that still exists in the MLB today. If baseball is to remove this inefficiency, the current arbitration system needs immediate reconstruction.

Poster file