Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
8-2022
College/Unit
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Document Number
22-07
Department/Program/Center
Economics
Abstract
Major League Baseball (MLB) teams regularly call up players from their Minor League Baseball (MiLB) affliates to fulfill roster needs. This paper utilizes a manually collected panel of player call-ups between 1946 and 2019 and studies their impact on competitive balance in the minor leagues. Our results indicate an overall positive relationship between call-ups and competitive balance in the MiLB, with the pro-competitive effect primarily driven by the AA leagues and not AAA leagues. We also find suggestive evidence of the effect being likely explained by the promotion of MiLB players to MLB, rather than the demotion of MLB players to MiLB. Our findings provide important policy implications regarding vertical relationships and human capital development in professional sports.
Digital Commons Citation
Ge, Qi; Humphreys, Brad R.; and Eisert, Alexander, "Vertical Integration and Competitive Balance in Professional Sports: Evidence from Minor League Baseball" (2022). Economics Faculty Working Papers Series. 66.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/econ_working-papers/66