Does General Manager Networking Affect Choice of Trade Partners in Major League Baseball?

It is not unusual for baseball general managers (GMs) to have network ties to their potential trading partners, either to the other teams’ GMs or to the teams themselves. This article investigates whether these connections affect the degree of trading activity between specific team pairs. Estimates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of sports economics 2014-12, Vol.15 (6), p.601-616
Main Authors: Hersch, Philip L., Pelkowski, Jodi E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Athletic drafts & trades
Baseball
Coaches & managers
Commonality
Economics
Estimates
Joints
Networks
Professional baseball
Social networks
Studies
Teams
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Summary:It is not unusual for baseball general managers (GMs) to have network ties to their potential trading partners, either to the other teams’ GMs or to the teams themselves. This article investigates whether these connections affect the degree of trading activity between specific team pairs. Estimates indicate that connections between GMs and commonalities between GMs enhance trade, although in absolute terms the effects are small. However, a GM simply having a professional tie to another team does not have any statistically significant effect. On the whole, our results are consistent with those found in the socioeconomic networking literature.
ISSN:1527-0025
1552-7794
DOI:10.1177/1527002512469536