This paper shows the first autocorrelation of basketball shot results is a highly biased and inconsistent estimator of the first autocorrelation of the ex ante probabilities the shots are made. Shot result autocorrelation is close to zero even when shot probability autocorrelation is close to...

Age is often used in law and public policy as a low-cost proxy for competency, maturity, and ability. Age is also used in numerous sport (and non-sport) labor markets to determine workplace eligibility. We exploit the enactment of the women’s professional tennis minimum age rule (AR) in 1995...

US college football's traditional bowl system, and lack of a postseason playoff tournament, has been controversial for years. The conventional wisdom is that a playoff would be a more fair way to determine the national champion, and more fun for fans to watch. The colleges finally agreed to...