The determinants of women's international soccer performances

Abstract

The expansion of economics to 'non-market topics', such as soccer, has received increased attention in recent years. However, most of the studies focus on men's performances, whereas this paper reports empirical evidence of women's international team performances. In line with the previous studies, which analysed the performance of men, the results reveal that economic, demographic, and climatic factors have a strong impact on teams' performances. The novelty of the paper is to investigate the impact of soccer tradition on women's team performances. It analyses whether there is a correlation between women's and men's team performances. In general, countries with a stronger football tradition not only have strong men's teams, but also women's teams. The findings also indicate that there is a certain competitive balance between the different football regions.