[Research & Publications]
My research encompasses managerial economic issues in sport, largely relating to the market power of sports leagues in the U.S. The sport setting also provides a data-rich context for exploring and testing economic and management theories that apply to other firms and industries. My research can be characterized under three primary branches: 1) Labor & Personnel Economics, 2) Industrial Organization, and 3) Public Policy & Economic Development.
You can find a list of my publications below, or find my CV under the Home tab above for a complete list of projects (Google Scholar Page). If you do not have access to the journals linked for each paper and would like a copy, please contact me through email. Some of my papers below have older working versions available to download for free at my SSRN Author Page or IDEAS/RePEc Page.
Publications
2024
42. Imbrogno, C. & Mills, B.M. (Forthcoming). Superstars really are scarce: Shohei Ohtani and baseball attendance. Journal of Sport Management.
41. Flannagan, K., Mills, B.M., & Goldstone, R. (2024). The psychophysics of home plate umpire calls in baseball. Scientific Reports, 14, 2735. [Article Link] [Replication Files]
2023
40. Mills, B.M. & Fort, R. (2023). Fan preference heterogeneity in Major League Baseball. Journal of Sports Economics, 24, 352-373. [Article Link]
2022
39. Day, G., Holden, J., & Mills, B.M. (2022). Fraud on any market. Indiana Law Journal, 97, 659-706. [Article Link]
38. Sung, H., Mills, B.M., & Lee, Y.H. (2022). Competitive balance in Major League Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 23, 329-354. [Article Link]
2021
37. Mills, B.M. (2021). A peculiarity that positions sport management. Journal of Sport Management, 35, 581-593. [Article Link]
36. Peeters, T., Mills, B.M., Pennings, E., & Sung, H. (2021). Manager migration, learning-by-hiring, and cultural distance in international soccer. Global Strategy Journal, 11, 494-519. [Article Link] [Replication Files]
35. Kellison, T. & Mills, B.M. (2021). Voter intentions and political implications of legislated stadium subsidies. Sport Management Review, 24, 181-203. [Article Link]
2020
34. Finegan, D., Mills, B.M., & Stone, D. (2020). Pulling starters. Journal of Behavioral & Experimental Economics, 89, 1-17. [Article Link]
33. Salaga, S., Mills, B.M., & Tainsky, S. (2020). Employer-assigned workload and human capital deterioration: Evidence from the National Football League. Journal of Sports Economics, 21, 628-659. [Article Link]
32. Tainsky, S., Mills, B.M., Hans, Z., & Lee, K. (2020). On the road with Minor League Baseball externalities. Journal of Sport Management, 34, 120-129. [Article Link]
2019
31. Mills, B.M., Rosentraub, M.S., & Jakar, G. (2019). Tourist tax elasticity in Florida: Spatial effects of county-level room tax rate variation. Tourism Management Perspectives, 31, 174-183. [Article Link]
30. Sung, H., Mills, B.M., & Mondello, M. (2019). Local broadcast viewership in Major League Soccer. Journal of Sport Management, 33, 106-118. [Article Link]
29. Lopez, M.J. & Mills, B.M. (2019). Opportunistic shirking behavior during unpaid overtime. Applied Economics Letters, 26, 608-612. [Article Link]
2018
28. Mills, B.M. & Salaga, S. (2018). A natural experiment for efficient markets: Information quality and influential agents. Journal of Financial Markets, 40, 23-39. [Article Link]
27. Wendling, E. & Mills, B.M. (2018). Mitigation of relative age effects through targeted policy intervention: A natural experiment from U.S. tennis. Social Science Quarterly, 99, 1496-1509. [Article Link]
26. Mills, B.M. & Winfree, J.A. (2018). Athlete pay and competitive balance in college athletics. Review of Industrial Organization, 52, 211-229. [Article Link]
25. Mills, B.M., Tainsky, S., Green, C. & Leopkey, R. (2018). The ultimatum game in the college football rivalry context. Journal of Sport Management, 32, 11-23. [Article Link]
24. Mills, B.M. & Fort, R.D. (2018). Team-level time series analysis in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL: Attendance and outcome uncertainty. Journal of Sports Economics, 19, 911-933. [Article Link]
23. Sung, H. & Mills, B.M. (2018). Estimation of game-level attendance in Major League Soccer: Outcome uncertainty and absolute quality considerations. Sport Management Review, 21, 519-532. [Article Link]
2017
22. Mondello, M., Mills, B.M., & Tainsky, S. (2017). Shared market competition and broadcast viewership in the National Football League. Journal of Sport Management, 31, 562-574. [Article Link]
21. Juravich, M. & Mills, B.M. (2017). Exogenous policy shocks and logic centrality shifts: NBA policy and NCAA outcomes. Journal of Sport Management, 31, 452-465. [Article Link]
20. Mills, B.M. (2017). Policy changes in Major League Baseball: Improved agent behavior and ancillary productivity outcomes. Economic Inquiry, 55, 1104-1118. [Article Link]
19. Mills, B.M. (2017). Technological innovations in monitoring and evaluation: Evidence of performance impacts among Major League Baseball umpires. Labour Economics, 46, 189-199. [Article Link]
18. Sung, H., Mills, B.M., & Tainsky, S. (2017). From schadenfreude to mitfreude? Estimating viewership loss and rivalrous relationships in otherwise neutral markets. Sport Management Review, 20, 159-169. [Article Link]
2016
17. Mills, B.M., Salaga, S., & Tainsky, S. (2016). NBA primary ticket market consumers: Ex ante expectations and consumer market origination. Journal of Sport Management, 30, 538-552. [Article Link]
16. Mills, B.M. & Winfree, J.A. (2016). Market power, exclusive rights, and substitution effects in sports. The Antitrust Bulletin, 6, 423-433. [Article Link]
15. Mills, B.M., Mondello, M., & Tainsky, S. (2016). Competition in shared markets and Major League Baseball broadcast viewership. Applied Economics, 48, 3020-3032. [Article Link]
14. Tainsky, S., Xu, J., Mills, B.M., & Salaga, S. (2016). How success and uncertainty compel interest in related goods: Playoff probability and out-of-market television viewership in the National Football League. Review of Industrial Organization, 48, 29-43. [Article Link]
13. Sorokina, E., Semrad, K., & Mills, B.M. (2016). Practical sales forecasting: Potential solutions for independently owned hotels. Tourism Analysis, 21, 631-644. [Article Link]
2015
12. Mills, B.M. & Salaga, S. (2015). Competitive balance of NCAA basketball: Policy impacts and structural change. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 614-646. [Article Link]
11. Tainsky, S., Mills, B.M. & Winfree, J.A. (2015). A further examination of potential discrimination among MLB umpires. Journal of Sports Economics, 16, 353-374. [Article Link]
10. Mills, B.M., Winfree, J.A., Rosentraub, M.S., & Sorokina, E. (2015). Fan substitution between North American professional sports leagues and across international borders. Applied Economics Letters, 22, 563-566. [Article Link]
2014
9. Mills, B.M. & Rosentraub, M.S. (2014). The National Hockey League and cross-border fandom: Travel costs, relocation, and international boundaries. Journal of Sports Economics, 15, 497-518. [Article Link]
8. Mills, B.M. (2014). Social pressure at the plate: Inequality aversion, status, and mere exposure. Managerial & Decision Economics, 35, 387-403. [Article Link]
7. Mills, B.M., Kwak, D.H., *Lee, J.S. & Lee, W.Y. (2014). Competitive environments in fantasy sports: Effects of entry fees and rewards on opposition quality and league sorting. International Gambling Studies, 14, 161-180. [Article Link]
6. Tainsky, S., Xu, J., Salaga, S., & Mills, B.M. (2014). Spillover benefits to local enthusiasm: Increases in league-wide interest as a consequence of local sports team competitiveness. Journal of Economics & Business, 74, 1-10. [Article Link]
5. Mills, B.M., Rosentraub, M.S., Winfree, J.A., & Cantor, M. (2014). Fiscal outcomes and tax impacts in Arlington, Texas. Public Money & Management, 34, 145-152. [Article Link]
4. Mills, B.M. & Fort, R.D. (2014). League-level attendance and outcome uncertainty in the NBA, NFL and NHL. Economic Inquiry, 52, 205-218. [Article Link]
2013
3. Mills, B.M. & Rosentraub, M.S. (2013). Hosting mega-events: A guide to the evaluation of development effects in integrated metropolitan regions. Tourism Management, 34, 238-246. [Article Link]
2012
2. Babiak, K., Mills, B.M., Tainsky, S. & Juravich, M. (2012). An investigation into professional athlete philanthropy: Is charity part of the game? Journal of Sport Management, 26, 159-176. [Article Link]
2011
1. Mills, B.M. & Salaga, S. (2011). Using tree ensembles to analyze national baseball hall of fame voting patterns: An application to discrimination in BBWAA voting. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 7(4). [Article Link]
Working Papers
Mills, B.M., Bopp, T., & Turick, R. Leadership representation and firm performance: Evidence from collegiate football. [SSRN Working Paper]
Mills, B.M. Research productivity and impact in sport management faculty careers. [Article PDF]
Under Review
4. Whalen, M, Matthews, G., & Mills, B.M. Empirical determination of baseball eras: Multivariate changepoint analysis in Major League Baseball. In Review.
3. Mills, B.M., Bopp, T., & Turick, R. Leadership representation and firm performance: Evidence from collegiate football. In Review.
2. Farnell, A., Mills, B.M., O'Sullivan, V., Berri, D., & Simmons, R. Assessing the role of fatigue and multitasking on worker performance: Evidence from MLB pitchers. In Review.
1. Mills, B.M. Research productivity and impact in sport management faculty careers. Undergoing Revisions.
Works in Progress
Mills, B.M., Wells, J., & Croom, R. Leadership teams in culturally heterogeneous contexts. 30 Page Manuscript.
Matthews, G., Binney, Z., & Mills, B.M. Revisiting NHL enforcers and mortality. Manuscript in Progress.
Mills, B.M. Rational shirking as team performance management. Data Analysis Stage.
Whalen, M. & Mills, B.M. Multivariate changepoints in North American League competitive balance. Data Analysis Stage.
Mills, B.M. & Simmons, R. Performance measurement precision and heterogeneous externalities in coincident labor markets. 30 Page Manuscript.
Mills, B.M. Peer learning and performance convergence in baseball umpires. Data Analysis Stage.
Mills, B.M., Kwon, E., & Imbrogno, C.T. Revisiting wage dispersion and performance. Data Collection Stage.
Juravich, M., Mills, B.M., & Salaga, S. Escalation of commitment in executive decision making in professional sport. Data Analysis Stage.
Kown, E. & Mills, B.M. A natural experiment for transfer policy effects on soccer wages: Russia and Ukraine in 2022. Data Analysis Stage.
Mills, B.M. Catcher framing, robo-umps, and labor market effects. Data Analysis Stage.