Disequilibrium Sports Economics

'This is an interesting book worth reading for every sports economist because it introduces a thought provoking approach to the growing field of sports economics. The authors show how disequilibrium economics may improve our understanding of puzzling economic phenomena in sports. I congratulate the editor and the contributors for this new book and the novel perspectives provided therein!'
- Helmut M. Dietl, University of Zurich, Switzerland

'I felt great intellectual excitement after getting acquainted with this volume. The high quality papers by Wladimir Andreff and his co-authors are more significant than the topic indicated modestly by the title; they may not only urge economists of sport to reconsider their earlier theories, but may also provide inspiration and a new momentum to the wide research program on disequilibrium and the soft budget constraint.'
- János Kornai, Harvard University, US and Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

'This book sounds like a theoretical breakthrough towards a new approach in sports economics that generates important insights into the issue of financial fair play in football.'
- Andrea Traverso, Head of Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play, UEFA

'This path-breaking volume contains novel analysis of problems of critical importance to sports clubs, leagues, fans and academics interested in sports.'
- Robert Simmons, Lancaster University Management School, UK

For decades, sports economics has been set within the framework of equilibrium economics, in particular when modelling team sport leagues. Based on a conviction that this does not reflect real life, this book addresses a gap in the literature and opens up a new research area by applying concepts drawn from disequilibrium economics. It is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on economic disequilibrium in sports markets and competitive imbalance in sporting contests. The second part concentrates on soft budget constraints and their consequences for club governance and management.

This pioneering book is the first to tackle non-mainstream economics in sport and offers a first approach to disequilibrium sports economics. Providing a new metric of competitive balance and opening up new avenues of future research, this is essential reading for economists and those researching sport across many disciplines.

Contributors: W. Andreff, E. Franck, J.-P. Gayant, N. Le Pape, R.D. Macdonald, K. Nielsen, R.K. Storm, G.N. Tuck, D. van Reeth, A.R. Whitten