Economics - Masters by Research Theses
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Item Soccer and CO2: air travel at international football tournaments from 1990 to 2024(University College Cork, 2024) McCarthy, Conor J.; Butler, Robert; Butler, DavidThis research explores the impact of football air travel on the environment for all men’s World Cup and UEFA European Football Championships hosted between 1990-2024. These tournaments required qualifying teams to travel to a host country and attract tens of thousands of supporters to stadiums throughout the host country. The supporter of teams and players travel across the host nation during their stay in the competition. Depending on the success of the team this can range from about 10 days up to 5 weeks.Item Are players born earlier in the calendar year more likely to experience elite dropout?(University College Cork, 2021) Buckley, Timothy Cathal; Butler, David; Butler, Robert; Jordan, DeclanThe relative age effect (RAE) has been consistently documented among elite football players at youth level but has been shown to dissipate at senior level. This research explores whether players born earlier in the calendar year, initially selected to play at an elite level, are more likely to be identified as dropouts at a later date. Statistical analysis is used to test for the presence and extent of RAE from a sample of almost 9,000 elite underage national league football players in the Republic of Ireland. Results reveal a bias towards players born early in the calendar year, and in the first quarter in particular. The bias is most pronounced at the youngest age group included in the analysis, at U15 level. Further statistical analysis assesses the differences between the observed distribution of births of 163 players who were identified as dropouts and the expected distribution of births. Players born earlier in the calendar year are also found to be more likely to be identified as dropouts from underage national league football in the Republic of Ireland. In comparison, their relatively younger counterparts, although less likely to be selected to play at an elite level initially, are significantly less likely to be identified as dropouts. Recommendations made based on the results include adopting a more strategic and long-term approach to be adopted during the initial player selection processes, and further education of coaches regarding youth development as well as the presence and consequences of RAE.