Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/316910 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11796
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the inequalities and convergence across countries using data on the top 100 players in chess and tennis. We explore the impact of time trends and exogenous global shocks on countries' representation in the top 100 players' lists in a manner akin to a natural experiment, comparing chess and tennis while distinguishing among different country income groups. The results indicate the presence of conditional convergence across countries in their representations in the top 100 chess players, but not in the top 100 tennis players. The availability of internet contributed to the reduction of inequalities in chess, a mind-dominated sport, but not in tennis, a wealth-dominated sport. Negative economic shocks, such as the Great Recession and the Covid pandemic, exacerbated the inequalities in tennis, but not in chess.
Subjects: 
economic convergence
income inequality
global shocks
FIDE chess
ATP tennis
sports.
JEL: 
D63
O10
Z20
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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