The causal economic effects of Olympic Games on host regions

Matthias Firgo

Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2021, vol. 88, issue C

Abstract: This paper is the first to study the effects of hosting Olympic Games on regional economic output beyond population dynamics. For identification, runners-up in the Olympic bidding process are used to construct the counterfactual for Olympic host regions. In the short run, hosting Summer Olympics boosts regional GDP per capita by about 3–4 percentage points relative to the national level in the year of the event and the year before. There is also evidence for positive long-run effects, but results on the latter are not statistically robust. In contrast, Winter Olympics do not have a positive impact on host regions. If anything, they lead to a temporal decline in regional GDP per capita in the years around the event.

Keywords: Olympic Games; Mega events; Public infrastructure; Regional development; Causal effects; Sports economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 O18 R11 R53 R58 Z28 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:regeco:v:88:y:2021:i:c:s0166046221000338

DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103673

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