Large Sporting Events and Economic Growth: Evidence from Economic Consequences of Event Infrastructure and Venues

Abstract

One of the most important reasons to hold a large sporting event is the large potential of an economic windfall. Findings of many studies show that holding large sporting events can bring large positive economic benefits. However, most existing literature assessing the economic impacts of mega-events neither properly considers the impact of costs of building event facilities nor captures physical legacies. This research designs a framework to measure both benefits and costs brought by event infrastructure and venues. Then this framework is applied to estimate the economic impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics using CGE modeling.