TY - JOUR
T1 - Labour market regulation and team performance: The Victorian Football League's Coulter Law, 1930-1970
AU - Frost, Lionel
AU - Schuwalow, Peter Mark
AU - Borrowman, Luc William
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The Coulter Law was a set of Victorian Football League (VFL) recruiting and payment rules that operated from 1930 to 1970 and set maximum wages for individual players. Testing of the conventional view - that most VFL clubs breached these rules to maximise the utility derived from winning games - is hampered by the unavailability of individual wage data. We develop a model that observes connections between player turnover and team performance at three VFL clubs. The ways that clubs managed team payrolls in a regulated labour market are not sufficient to explain variations in team performance. Clubs lost experienced players to minor leagues, regardless of whether they complied with the Coulter Law. The ability of clubs to develop replacement players had a stronger influence on team performance.
AB - The Coulter Law was a set of Victorian Football League (VFL) recruiting and payment rules that operated from 1930 to 1970 and set maximum wages for individual players. Testing of the conventional view - that most VFL clubs breached these rules to maximise the utility derived from winning games - is hampered by the unavailability of individual wage data. We develop a model that observes connections between player turnover and team performance at three VFL clubs. The ways that clubs managed team payrolls in a regulated labour market are not sufficient to explain variations in team performance. Clubs lost experienced players to minor leagues, regardless of whether they complied with the Coulter Law. The ability of clubs to develop replacement players had a stronger influence on team performance.
U2 - 10.1016/j.smr.2012.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.smr.2012.01.004
M3 - Article
VL - 15
SP - 276
EP - 287
JO - Sport Management Review
JF - Sport Management Review
SN - 1441-3523
IS - 3
ER -