The DOI matches its Crossref record; 4 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
NCAA ``Point Shaving'' as an Artifact of the Regression Effect and the Lack of Tie Games
Abstract
Wolfers concluded that point shaving may occur in 6% of NCAA Division I basketball games involving a team favored by more than 12 points. His analysis is flawed on two counts. First, a regression effect is introduced when the definition of a strong favorite is based on the betting market's estimate of the winning margin. Second, the effect that a lack of tie games has on the resulting distribution of game outcomes relative to the Vegas spread is mistaken as a shift in the distribution because of point shaving. When combined, the regression effect and the lack of ties generate the observed data patterns. Numerical analysis indicates that even if the betting market makes unbiased estimates of the winning margin, an error with a standard deviation of 1.35 points is sufficient to generate the observed data pattern.
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Citations
Cites
Journal of Economic Literature
(2020) · AEA Papers and Proceedings · doi:10.1257/pandp.110.682 · Cited by 1,246
Point Shaving: Corruption in NCAA Basketball
Wolfers, J. (2006) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/000282806777211757 · Cited by 166
Widespread Corruption in Sports Gambling: Fact or Fiction?
Borghesi, R. (2008) · Southern Economic Journal · doi:10.1002/j.2325-8012.2008.tb00881.x · Cited by 30
(1998) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Beck, H., 2007, The New York Times, D.1
- Cannella, S., 2006, Sports Illustrated, 104, 26
- Fridson, M., 2006, Barron's, 86, 48
- Gibbs, J., 2007, Point shaving in the NBA: An economic analysis of the National Basketball Association's point spread betting market. Undergraduate Honor's Thesis
- Knightly, A.M., 2006, Las Vegas Business Press, 23, 10
- Leonhardt, D., 2006, The New York Times, C.1
- McCarthy, M., 2007, USA Today, 01c
Cited by
A case study in sports law analytics: The debate on widespread point shaving
Borghesi, R. (2015) · Journal of Sports Analytics · doi:10.3233/jsa-150011 · Cited by 9
Failing to Cover: Point Shaving or Statistical Abnormality?
Diemer, G., & Leeds, M. A. (2013) · International Journal of Sport Finance · doi:10.1177/155862351300800301 · Cited by 9
Totals Markets as Evidence Against Widespread Point Shaving
Borghesi, R., Paul, R. J., & Weinbach, A. (2012) · The Journal of Prediction Markets · doi:10.5750/jpm.v4i2.475 · Cited by 9
Market evidence against widespread point shaving in college basketball
Berkowitz, J. P., Depken, C. A., & Gandar, J. M. (2018) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2018.06.018 · Cited by 8
The Point Spread as a Reference Point: Evidence from the National Basketball Association
Diemer, G., & Leeds, M. (2022) · Journal of Applied Sport Management · doi:10.7290/jasm14cbdg · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Johnson, N.
- Affiliations
- Pacific Lutheran University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Johnson, Neal
- Venue
- Journal of Sports Economics
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 59-67
- ISSN
- 1527-0025 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7794
- OpenAlex
- W2059116951
- Semantic Scholar
- babc006f706b7329435a273484436caeabba8d41
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Sports Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Sports Analytics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Doping in Sports
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection
- Keywords
- NCAA basketball, regression effect, betting markets, tie games, sports corruption
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