An econometric evaluation of the effect of firing a coach on team performance

Abstract

Firing the manager is a drastic measure employed by firms to deal with poor performance. However, data on within-firm dynamics are scarce, and the firing of individual managers is rarely recorded in the firm level data currently available. This makes the value of firing a manager difficult to assess. Data on sports offer a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon because the firing of a coach is usually well-publicized. Using data on soccer, the author evaluates the effect of the firing of a coach on team performance. As teams do not face the same opponents before and after a coach is fired, the issue of sample selectivity is addressed.

Does Manager Turnover Improve Firm Performance? Evidence from Dutch Soccer, 1986–2004

“…He also shows that the 1993/94 season is an outlier. The main difference with the present paper is that Koning (2003) and Van Dalen (1994) focus on much shorter time periods and use a measure of team performance that is much more volatile compared to the one used here. The advantages of our measure of team performance are discussed in Sects.…”

“…9 For the Netherlands, Van Dalen (1994), Koning (2003) and Bruinshoofd and Ter Weel (2003) have performed similar types of empirical investigations. Van Dalen (1994) uses data for the 1993/94 season only.…”

“…His estimates reveal that manager turnover during the 1993/94 season has a positive effect on the goal difference. Koning (2003) focuses on forced resignations only during five seasons in the period 1993-1998. The dependent variable in his analysis is similar to the one used by Van Dalen (1994).…”

You’re getting sacked in the morning: managerial change in the English Premier League

“…Additionally, clubs relegated from the EPL are entitled to parachute payments worth a combined £60m over four years following relegation. This is undoubtedly a substantial amount although staying in the league itself is still the most Eredivisie, German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A (see Audas, Dobson and Goddard, 2002;Bruinshoofd and ter Weel, 2003;Hope, 2003;Koning, 2003;Tena and Forrest, 2007;Frick and Simmons, 2008;De Paola and Scoppa, 2011;Gonzalez-Gomez et al, 2011;Bell, Brooks and Markham, 2013). However, many of these papers focus on the impact of managerial change on performance and there has been very little research on the factors that influence the decision to replace a manager in the first instance.…”

New approaches of the effect of midseason coaching change on team performance in the history of the NBA. [Nuevo enfoque sobre el efecto del cambio de entrenador durante la temporada sobre el rendimiento de los equipos en la historia de la NBA].

“…Given that midseason change of coach is a very important management dilemma for the owners and general managers of sports teams, as Martínez & Caudill (2013) explain, and given that this topic has been widely treated in the specialized literature in different sports (e.g., Audas, Dobson & Goddard, 1997;Barros, Frick & Passos, 2009;Brown, 1982;Etzen & Yetman, 1972;González-Gómez, Picazo-Tadeo & García-Rubio, 2011;Koning;2003;Peñas, 2007;Pfeffer & Davis-Blake, 1986;Tena & Forrest, 2007;Wagner, 2010), a complementary vision of the data analysed by Martínez & Caudill (2013) is needed in order to obtain new evidence about the success of this decision for professional basketball teams.…”