Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/108704 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8824
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper identifies matches on the male and female professional tennis tours in which one player faces a high payoff from being “on the bubble” of direct entry into one of the lucrative Grand Slam tournaments, while their opposition does not. Analyzing over 378,000 matches provides strong evidence for corrupt behavior on the men's tour, as bubble players are substantially more likely to beat better ranked opponents when a win is desperately needed. However, we find no such evidence on the women's tour. These results prevail throughout a series of extensions and robustness checks, highlighting gender differences regarding corrupt and unethical behavior, but also concerning collusion. We especially find evidence for collusion once monetary incentives are further increased. Finally, the market for sports betting does not seem to be aware of this phenomenon, suggesting a market imperfection and further confirming our suspicion of irregular activities in men's tennis.
Subjects: 
cheating
corruption
gender differences
Oaxaca decomposition
sport
tennis
JEL: 
D73
J16
L83
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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