EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca


. . . . . . . . . . .Richard Posner should be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Economics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Friday, July 29, 2005

What Do Basketball Players Learn in College?

from the sports law blog:

Update to NBA Player Arrest Study

In my study on NBA player arrest and age/education, I added an education-level comparison of arrested NBA players to all current NBA players. There are some rather striking results that appear to amplify the study's findings.Most notably, though 41.1 percent of all NBA players went to college for 4 years, 57.1 percent of arrested NBA players went to college for 4 years. In contrast, though 14.8 percent of all NBA players either did not go to college or went for one year, only 9.6 of arrested NBA players share the same educational background.

Why would college educated NBA players be more likely to be arrested? Why would those who attend for four years be more likely to be arrested than those who didn't?

One possible explanation is that after four years of suffering from monopsonistic exploitation by the NCAA, the players are less likely to have respect for the law. They see and experience cheating by athletic directors, and they are bombarded with bribes.

Another possible explanation: those who go straight to the NBA or who enter the draft early tend to be better players for whom the opportunity costs of being arrested are higher. They have more to lose and less to fall back on. They also have less time to become jaundiced by NCAA exploitation
 
Who Links Here