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Talent development and labour market integration in European football
Author(s) -
Norbäck PehrJohan,
Olsson Martin,
Persson Lars
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the world economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1467-9701
pISSN - 0378-5920
DOI - 10.1111/twec.13071
Subject(s) - football , league , balance (ability) , competition (biology) , bidding , economics , incentive , european union , star (game theory) , market economy , international economics , political science , microeconomics , medicine , ecology , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , astronomy , law , physical medicine and rehabilitation , biology
In this paper, we argue that altered incentives for clubs to develop star players after the Bosman ruling can explain why European football has seen lower competitive balance in the Champions League but more competitive balance at the national level. By having a profound impact on the transfers of players within the European Union (EU), the Bosman ruling led to stiffer bidding competition over football stars. We show that this spurred talent development primarily in EU countries without established top clubs having a positive impact on their junior and senior national teams' performance. However, the stiffer bidding competition also led to a lower competitive balance in the Champions League, as non‐established clubs prefer to sell their star players instead of challenging the top clubs. We provide empirical evidence consistent with these findings.