The Impact of Health Shocks on Worker Performance: Evidence from Professional Sports

Yulia Chikish and Brad Humphreys
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Yulia Chikish: SUNY Purchase

No 24-06, Working Papers from Department of Economics, West Virginia University

Abstract: Workplace injuries generate substantial costs to workers and employers. We analyze con- sequences of a workplace injury, ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) damage in elbows of baseball pitchers. Once career ending, a method to repair torn UCLs, Tommy John surgery, was de- veloped in the 1970s. We analyze performance of pitchers before and after undergoing this surgery and also compare them to a matched sample of uninjured pitchers. Surgical repair of UCL injuries extends post-injury careers by roughly one season relative to matched uninjured pitchers, generating economic benefits for players and teams. Post-injury performance, in terms of batting success of hitters faced by pitchers, improves by roughly 3%. Pitchers returning from the injury face fewer batters per season than matched uninjured pitchers.

Keywords: Tommy John surgery; Major League Baseball; career length; health shocks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J24 Z20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
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