Article ID: | iaor20124873 |
Volume: | 58 |
Issue: | 8 |
Start Page Number: | 1585 |
End Page Number: | 1591 |
Publication Date: | Aug 2012 |
Journal: | Management Science |
Authors: | Sutter Matthias, Kocher Martin G, Lenz Marc V |
Keywords: | experiment, economics, sports |
Dynamic competitive settings may create psychological pressure when feedback about the performance of competitors is provided before the end of the competition. Such psychological pressure could produce a first‐mover advantage, despite a priori equal winning probabilities. Using data from a randomized natural experiment–penalty shootouts in soccer–we reexamine evidence by Apesteguia and Palacios‐Huerta (2010) . They report a 21‐percentage‐point advantage for first movers over second movers in terms of winning probabilities. Extending their sample of 129 shootouts to 540, we fail to detect any significant first‐mover advantage. Our results are fully consistent with recent evidence from other sports contests.