Open AccessRacial Integration as an Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Sports Leagues
Author(s) -
Brian Goff,
Robert McCormick,
Robert D. Tollison
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 16.936
H-Index - 297
eISSN - 1944-7981
pISSN - 0002-8282
DOI - 10.1257/000282802760015586
Subject(s) - league , rivalry , discretion , basketball , racial integration , economic integration , economics , entrepreneurship , empirical evidence , process (computing) , football , marketing , political science , international trade , business , macroeconomics , law , computer science , history , philosophy , physics , archaeology , finance , epistemology , astronomy , operating system
This paper treats racial integration as an innovation in economic process in which economic entities find it advantageous to utilize potentially more productive inputs previously unavailable due to law, custom, or managerial discretion. Data on the racial integration of Major League Baseball and Atlantic Coast Conference basketball are employed to address this issue. The central question examined is which type of team integrated first—losers or winners? The results strongly support the idea that entrepreneurship trumps competitive rivalry; that is, winning teams led the process of racial integration.
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