N Edward Coulson, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Russell Paul Chuderewicz, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
economics sports economics minor league baseball local economies compensating differentials unemployment rate
Abstract:
This paper uses a data set to determine whether or not there are positive economic benefits from government subsidies on stadium construction for Minor League Baseball teams. Specifically, I used a data set consisting of 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States from the years 2000-2012 to determine if markets that hosted a team had lower unemployment rates than Metropolitan Statistical areas that did not host a team. Overall, markets that had a Minor League Baseball team also had a statistically significant lower unemployment rates, however on an individual basis, AAA teams were correlated with higher unemployment rates while both AA and A teams were correlated with lower rates.