Abstract
The presence of the sunk-cost fallacy in expert decision making is tested by examining the within-game usage of players in the National Football League (NFL). Using the exogenous variation in compensation from the NFL’s free agency rules, we show that compensation, which is a sunk cost, significantly increases the number of rushing attempts for NFL running backs. The relationship between rushing attempts and compensation is estimated to be unit elastic. The increase in compensation from being eligible for unrestricted free agency has an equivalent effect on the number of rushing attempts as an additional 174–222 rushing yards in the previous season, which has a value of 13.9–17.8 offensive points.
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