Fading Shooting Stars – The Relative Age Effect, Misallocation of Talent, and Returns to Training in German Elite Youth Soccer

Lukas Tohoff () and Mario Mechtel ()
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Lukas Tohoff: Bocconi University, Economics and Social Sciences
Mario Mechtel: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre

No 413, Working Paper Series in Economics from University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics

Abstract: This paper analyses the Relative Age Effect (RAE) in German elite youth soccer academies. We examine the efficiency of talent selection and the returns to training. Our results indicate a strong effect of players’ birth dates on their probability of getting selected – and, thus, a waste of talent. Using data on 2,382 former elite youth players and their later market values, we find that clubs could generate 30.3 to 77.2% higher market values when eliminating the RAE. Our findings emphasize that distinguishing between current and potential performance levels is crucial for the efficient allocation of talent in sports and society

Keywords: Relative age effect; market values; misallocation of talent; returns to training; selection of talent; elite youth soccer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 I24 I26 J24 M51 M53 Z22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-lma and nep-spo
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lue:wpaper:413

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