This paper examines the underlying drivers of MLB franchise value. Using panel data for MLB teams from 2000-2010, I find that a team’s ballpark and metro-area market are significant determinants, yet revenues truly drive value. Further, I find that incremental increases in winning percentage by a particular team has an insignificant effect on total revenues and has no marginal impact on the value of the team, particularly if the team recognizes consistent revenue streams every year. Finally, I show that the modern sabermetric approach to player management negatively impacts firm value, suggesting that although small market teams have been successful using this strategy to increase their on-field performance, its use in isolation is not financially beneficial to the organization in the long run.

Fighting has been a centerpiece of the National Hockey League since it was formed in 1917. Although rules have been introduced regulating the physicality of play in the NHL, fighting is demanded—and encouraged—by fans and players alike. Fans have long been attracted to the violence of professional hockey; previous studies have documented that professional hockey is a “blood sport” that generates revenues with violence. This research investigates the effect of fighting on player salaries in the NHL, examining the way in which fighting has become a strategic element of the game, describing the way players enforce their own “Code” of hockey rules and police the ice in ways referees cannot, and comparing the salaries of fighters and skilled players to determine how players in different roles are valued.

The collapse of the video window is disrupting the economic framework between exhibitors and distributors in the film industry. This study analyzes the collapse from several angles and provides a detailed description as to why the collapse has, and will continue to be, disruptive. I first examine the impact various technologies have had on the collapse of the video window – the time between a motion picture’s theatrical release and video release – during 1997 – 2012. The average video window has declined from 5 months 22days in 1997 to 3 months 29 days in 2012. Differences of means tests were used to inspect the average video window at the time of each technology’s introduction. Then in order to reveal how the length of the video window affects box office profit, I use an ordinary least squares regression to examine the determinants of gross domestic box office profit for a sample of 294 top earning U.S. films during 1999-2012.

How do the experiences of women in the labor market differ from the experiences of men? Do economic crises affect their labor market decisions differently? Economists have investigated the responses of women to specific moments of crisis in Argentina – the country lends itself well to this analysis, as the last three decades of its history have seen both economic growth and financial collapse. With the crisis literature in mind, I investigate trends in female labor force participation rates in Argentina between 1980-2003, finding that while some evidence supports the “added worker effect” hypothesis, more research must be done to understand the relationships between female labor force participation and male and female unemployment.

This paper looks at Robert Kaplan and David Norton’s framework of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and strategy maps and their application to measuring performance at the level of the marketing business unit. It will begin by looking at the model itself and how it has evolved from solely being a performance measurement system to a strategic management system. It then applies this framework to the marketing function, which according to Peter Drucker, is one of the two main functions of business; the other being innovation. It also looks at the shortcomings of the traditional measurement systems for marketing – mostly financial measures as well as some newer methods such as marketing performance dashboards. It will also then address some of the shortcomings of the balanced scorecard framework when being applied to corporations.

Past empirical analysis show that in contrast to the theory predictions; prices tend to decline in some sequential auctions, a puzzle known as the declining price anomaly. Several theoretical explanations were proposed demonstrating the possibility of a declining price pattern under certain assumptions. In this paper, we demonstrate that when bidders have private values and multi-unit demand, expected selling price can be increasing, constant, decreasing or even non-monotonic. In our model, price pattern depends on the distributions from which bidder valuations are drawn (including the size of the bidders demand reduction), and the number of bidders.

Maine is at a crossroads in its energy future. With 80 percent of homes in the state heated by oil, the highest percentage in the country, Mainers find themselves addicted to imported energy and without a renewable powered heating alternative for the long, harsh winters. Enter offshore wind into the equation. A relatively unknown technology in the United States, offshore wind farms are currently powering one million homes in Europe. Furthermore, the Gulf of Maine has world class wind resources that could potentially provide double the power production of the state’s current peak electricity demand. Through eight weeks of research conducted in Portland, Maine, which consisted of a literature review and stakeholder interviews, I have identified and focused on the key opportunities and obstacles to successful offshore wind energy development in Maine in the short and long term.

The Bitcoin currency relies on a transaction verification system run by a decentralized network of miners. This paper evaluates the long-term economic stability of Bitcoin mining. Specifically, I analyze the incentive structure surrounding transaction fees, which are part of the reward miners earn for verifying transactions in the Bitcoin network. My method of investigation is to first construct a visual model representing miner incentives, then input current and estimated data into that model, and finally determine how individual miners and pools will behave based on the key variables included in the model and industry trends. I conclude, under the current protocol rules, Bitcoin mining is not economically sustainable in the long-term due to the impending centralization of the network. Centralization in itself will not necessarily destroy the network. However, it will lead to unsatisfactory outcomes that will greatly lower the value of the entire system. Therefore, I recommend two potential solutions to the centralization issue, namely the requirement of either P2Pools or a proof-of-stake mechanism. The development of future applications on the Bitcoin protocol depends on the success of the Bitcoin currency application. These future technologies, along with the Bitcoin currency, have the potential to disrupt many industries. But, if miner incentives are not aligned with maintaining decentralization, then none of this potential will be realized.

Bitcoin, a virtual currency invented in 2009, was created as a peer-to-peer currency that eliminated the need for a third party authority, such as banks or government, to be involved in monetary transactions. Having no intrinsic value but carrying no government guarantees relegates bitcoin and its competitors to the perpetual role of investment opportunity, deriving value not from a practical use, but from a nominal, dollar value. This will continue to be the case until the U.S. Government sanctions virtual currency as a viable store of value. Because the dollar plays such a large role in the world’s economy, other countries will not adopt virtual currency technology unless the U.S. does so first. Substantial populations around the world must embrace bitcoin as a significant source of value before any monetary authority will relinquish the power associated with fiat currency. There are, however, many aspects of the virtual-currency model created by bitcoin that could be useful in improving the efficiency of money movement around the United States and the globe, through transaction memory, low transaction cost, and secure account information.

In the last ten years, the gig economy has become a significant part of the labor market. Consumers depend on the services provided by people performing gig work, particularly as on-demand services are increasingly desired. Another trend that has developed is the rise of fast casual restaurants due to their relatively inexpensive and quick service while simultaneously providing unique and interesting cuisine options. I examined if there was a relationship between the rise of these emerging sectors of the economy through looking at the performance of limited service eating place establishments using a panel data regression model at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level from 2006 to 2015. I concluded that there is a negative relationship between the number gig firms and the number limited service eating places and no relationship between the number gig firms and the annual payroll of limited service eating places. With opposite results from those hypothesized, I recommend ways to improve the research and propose alternative research questions to answer looking at the gig economy and the restaurant industry.