► We analyze the impact of football players' migration on national team performance. ► We provide a theoretical model and empirical evidence. ► Migration of national team players improves international football performance. ► This result holds particularly for countries with lower quality football clubs. a b s t r a c tWe analyze the impact of human capital formation through migration on performance by studying the impact of football players' migration to foreign clubs on their origin countries' international football performance. In our model, migration to foreign clubs allows players to improve their skills. Its impact on national team performance is positive and increasing with the difference in quality between foreign and home country clubs. To test this prediction, we have collected information on the club of employment of national team players for most countries in the world. We have constructed an original migration index, weighing each emigrant player by the quality of the foreign club employing him. We find strong and robust support for the theoretical prediction that migration of national team players improves international football performance, particularly for countries with lower quality football clubs.

We examine the impact of football player migration on their origin countries" international football performance. In our model, players acquire superior skills in foreign clubs, so emigration of players improves national team performance. We have collected information on the club of employment of national team players for most countries in the world. We have constructed an original migration index, weighting each emigrant player by the quality of his club of employment. We find strong and robust support for the theoretical prediction that migration of players to foreign leagues improves their origin countries" international football performance. JEL Classification: J61, L83

European Cup football has experienced a major change in format with the introduction of the Champions League (CL) in 1992 and a major change in admission rules with direct qualification for multiple teams from the highest ranked leagues in 1999. We show that, in line with popular press reports and other studies, qualification in lower rounds has become more predictable in the CL. At the same time, however, outcomes at later stages have become less predictable. We provide evidence and an explanation.

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Terms of use: Documents in AbstractWe examine the impact of a different cultural background on individual behavior, focusing on penalties in football matches of southern European and northern European football players in the English Premier League. Southern European football players collect on average more football penalties than their British colleagues and northern European football players collect on average less football penalties than their British colleagues. The number of football penalties incurred by southern European players is initially higher but converges towards the local average the longer their experience in the English Premier League.JEL Classification: J61, L83, Z10