Youth sports and the accumulation of human capital

Abstract

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. Terms of use: Documents in ProsYouth sports are an investment good as well as a consumption good. Time spent in youth sports adds to cognitive skills, such as performance on standardized exams in school. Time spent in youth sports adds to non-cognitive skills, such as self-discipline and the ability to work with others, which improve performance in the labor market. Enhanced human capital improves performance in school and in the labor market. Sports form part of a school district's or local government's core mission. eleVaTOR PiTchIn response to declining budgets, many school districts in the US have reduced funding for sports. In Europe, parents may respond to difficult economic times by spending less on sports clubs for their children. Such cuts are unwise if participating in sports is an investment good as well as a consumption good and adds to students' human capital. The value of sports is hard to measure because people who already possess the skills needed to succeed in school and beyond might be more likely to participate in sports. Most studies that account for this endogeneity find that participation in youth sports improves academic and labor market performance. aUThOR's MaiN MessaGeThe economic value of youth sports depends on whether participants do better in school and at work than non-participants. It is hard to test for such impacts because sports could be either a cause or a result of greater cognitive and non-cognitive skills. This endogeneity necessitates sophisticated methods of analysis. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that sports improve cognitive and non-cognitive skills. These findings justify continued support of sports by US school districts. They also suggest that European schools might want to expand their sports programs beyond basic fitness activities or that European governments might want to subsidize private sports clubs. consYouth sports are strictly a consumption good that has no positive impact on performance elsewhere. Time spent away from academic studies diminishes students' cognitive skills, which worsens their performance in school. Time spent away from academic studies diminishes the accumulation of non-cognitive skills that are valued by employers. Participating in youth sports worsens performance in school and the labor market. Funding youth sports is a waste of public resources. Youth sports and the accumulation of human capitalPositive contributions to cognitive and non-cognitive skills justify public s...

Utilizing Incentivized Economic Experiments to Test for Social Skills Acquisition Through Physical Education: Study Protocol of the Movigen Project

“…The first question is motivated by the discussion whether sports participation can be considered as investment good. The rationale is that sports participation may not just invoke pleasure but also foster skills which are assumed to translate into favorable outcomes in other domains of life, e.g., success in the labor market (Leeds, 2015 ). In the present study, this issue can be addressed with data from the first measurement, i.e., before the beginning of the intervention in the treatment group by a comparison of differences in individuals' decisions in the economic experiments contingent on their levels of physical activity.…”

Do High School Sports Build or Reveal Character?

“…On the other hand, sports participation may be harmful to youth if it distracts too much from academic pursuits (Coleman, 1961), if it causes excess physical injury (Fair and Champa, 2017), or if it encourages youth to spend more time with peers who are less academically inclined or more prone to risky behavior. 4 While sports participation may have positive effects in some dimensions, it may also have negative effects in other dimensions (Leeds, 2015). A secondary contribution of our paper is to consider a broader set of outcomes to determine if there are any such negative effects.…”

Análise da atuação do Estado na promoção da mobilidade social

“…Observou-se também que os comportamentos das variáveis foram convergentes nos modelos e dialogam com a literatura. O fato de as áreas de educação (Ribeiro; Carvalhaes, 2020), de cultura (Bonamino et al, 2010) e de esporte (Leeds, 2015) influenciarem positivamente o IPMS, está de acordo com a Teoria do Capital Humano , confirmando a expectativa teórica apresentada. Isso sugere que municípios que investem em políticas educacionais, esportivas e culturais, têm maior probabilidade de alcançar uma posição mais elevada em termos de potencial de mobilidade social.…”