Competitive Balance Research Articles

Study on competition mechanism of deformation modes of U-shaped bellows under internal pressure

Bellows are widely used in various modern engineering fields, especially in storage and transportation of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) system on the sea. They are prominent pressure vessels with internal pressure load as a common working condition. Concerning common U-shaped bellows in this study, the cross-section of the bellows is divided into three segments, wave peak semicircle, straight ring plate, and wave trough semicircle, to establish mechanical models. Bellows with different design parameters have different mechanical properties, producing different deformation modes of the cross-section of the bellows under the action of internal pressure load. The competition mechanism of deformation modes of different parts in the cross-section under internal pressure is discussed. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis of design parameters is performed and the bellows with competition balance between different parts were determined, which can keep the cross-section maintaining the “U” shape without global deformation under internal pressure. In addition, the radial displacement of bellows under internal pressure is theoretically derived to improve the deep discussion on competition mechanism of deformation modes. Accordingly, the relevant theoretical results are compared with finite element simulations, illustrating the reliability of the theoretical analysis. This study may serve as a reference for the design and analysis of the structure of bellows.

Competitive intensity and industry performance of professional sports

This paper discusses if an unbalanced league can lead to higher total revenues from attendance than a balanced league even though, theoretically, one expects the latter to be more attractive. At this aim, a new Bayesian statistical modelling is proposed, such as to explore the influence of the competitive structure on the attractiveness of men’s soccer top leagues By investigating French and English top leagues covering the seasons 2016-17 and 2017-18, we found that French attendance is positively correlated with competitive balance, whereas English attendance have a higher preference for the presence of star players. Furthermore, the attractiveness of matches is higher in each of the two leagues when the league is structured as an oligopoly, but for different reasons: (i) French attendance is higher for teams qualifying for inter-country competitions; (ii) English attendance is higher for matches between the six historical clubs of the Premier League.

국내 프로야구 경쟁균형을 위한 FA제도의 문제점 및 개선 방안 연구

국내 프로야구 경쟁균형을 위한 FA제도의 문제점 및 개선 방안 연구

The effects of broadcast on a team's market and on competitive balance from the perspective of fans maximizing utility

AbstractWe examine the decision of fans to attend the game or watch the exact televised match to address whether broadcast lowers revenue collected at the gate and worsens competitive balance. In most cases, broadcasts lower attendance and collection at the gate but do not necessarily worsen competitive balance. Weaker teams can benefit from broadcast revenue and catch up with their stronger counterpart. However, teams that make more money from broadcasts and a broad fan base can gain more advantages from broadcasts and worsen competitive balance.

Injury prevents Ras mutant cell expansion in mosaic skin

Healthy skin is a mosaic of wild-type and mutant clones1,2. Although injury can cooperate with mutated Ras family proteins to promote tumorigenesis3–12, the consequences in genetically mosaic skin are unknown. Here we show that after injury, wild-type cells suppress aberrant growth induced by oncogenic Ras. HrasG12V/+ and KrasG12D/+ cells outcompete wild-type cells in uninjured, mosaic tissue but their expansion is prevented after injury owing to an increase in the fraction of proliferating wild-type cells. Mechanistically, we show that, unlike HrasG12V/+ cells, wild-type cells respond to autocrine and paracrine secretion of EGFR ligands, and this differential activation of the EGFR pathway explains the competitive switch during injury repair. Inhibition of EGFR signalling via drug or genetic approaches diminishes the proportion of dividing wild-type cells after injury, leading to the expansion of HrasG12V/+ cells. Increased proliferation of wild-type cells via constitutive loss of the cell cycle inhibitor p21 counteracts the expansion of HrasG12V/+ cells even in the absence of injury. Thus, injury has a role in switching the competitive balance between oncogenic and wild-type cells in genetically mosaic skin.

Shannon Entropy and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index as Team's Performance and Competitive Balance Indicators in Cyclist Multi-Stage Races.

It seems that one cannot find many papers relating entropy to sport competitions. Thus, in this paper, I use (i) the Shannon intrinsic entropy (S) as an indicator of "teams sporting value" (or "competition performance") and (ii) the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHi) as a "teams competitive balance" indicator, in the case of (professional) cyclist multi-stage races. The 2022 Tour de France and 2023 Tour of Oman are used for numerical illustrations and discussion. The numerical values are obtained from classical and and new ranking indices which measure the teams "final time", on one hand, and "final place", on the other hand, based on the "best three" riders in each stage, but also the corresponding times and places throughout the race, for these finishing riders. The analysis data demonstrate that the constraint, "only the finishing riders count", makes much sense for obtaining a more objective measure of "team value" and team performance", at the end of a multi-stage race. A graphical analysis allows us to distinguish various team levels, each exhibiting a Feller-Pareto distribution, thereby indicating self-organized processes. In so doing, one hopefully better relates objective scientific measures to sport team competitions. Moreover, this analysis proposes some paths to elaborate on forecasting through standard probability concepts.

The evolution of seeding systems and the impact of imbalanced groups in FIFA Men’s World Cup tournaments 1954–2022

Abstract The FIFA Men’s World Cup tournament is the most popular sporting event in the world. Scholars have identified several flaws in the organization of the World Cup causing competitive imbalance. We empirically assess competitive imbalance between groups for the World Cup tournaments from 1954 through 2022. We average the Elo ratings of a team’s opponents in the group stage to calculate their group opponents rating. In every World Cup, the range in group opponents rating exceeds 118 Elo rating points – the difference between an average participant and an average semifinalist. Using logistic regression, we find that for an average participant in a 32-team World Cup, an increase in group opponents rating of only 88 Elo rating points can reduce the probability of reaching the quarterfinal from 0.174 to 0.081, which is a decrease of more than 50 %. None of the five seeding systems used by FIFA during 1954–2022 lessened the negative impact of group opponents rating on the probability of reaching the quarterfinal. We close with seven policy recommendations to restore competitive balance at the World Cup.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) in combination provide greater suppression of mile-a-minute (Mikania micrantha) than either crop alone.

In natural systems, diverse plant communities tend to prevent a single species from dominating. Similarly, management of invasive alien plants may be achieved through various combinations of competing species. We used a de Wit replacement series to compare different combinations of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam), hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet) and mile-a-minute (Mikania micrantha Kunth) through measures of photosynthesis, plant growth, nutrient levels in plant tissue and soil, and competitive ability. Cultured alone sweet potato and hyacinth beans exhibited higher total biomass, leafstalk length, and leaf area than mile-a-minute. In mixed culture, either sweet potato or hyacinth bean or both together significantly suppressed the mile-a-minute parameters, i.e., plant height, branch, leaf, adventitious root, and biomass (P<0.05). Based on a significantly lower than 1.0 relative yield of the three plant species in mixed culture, we showed intraspecific competition to be less than interspecific competition. Calculated indices (relative yield, relative yield total, competitive balance index, and change in contribution) demonstrated a higher competitive ability and higher influence of either crop compared to mile-a-minute. The presence of sweet potato and hyacinth bean, especially with both species in combination, significantly reduced (P<0.05) mile-a-minute's net photosynthetic rate (Pn), antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and malondialdehyde), chlorophyll content, and nutrient content (N, P, and K). In soil with mile-a-minute in monoculture soil organic matter, total and available N, total and available K, and available P were significantly greater (P<0.05) than in soil with sweet potato grown in monoculture, but less than in soil with hyacinth bean grown in monoculture soil. Nutrient soil content was comparatively reduced for plant mixtures. Plant height, leaf, biomass, Pn, antioxidant enzyme activities, and plant and soil nutrient contents of sweet potato and hyacinth bean tended to be much greater when grown with two crops compared to in mixture with just sweet potato or hyacinth bean. Our results suggest that the competitive abilities of both sweet potato and hyacinth bean were greater than that of mile-a-minute, and also that mile-a-minute suppression was significantly improved via a combination of the two crops compared to either sweet potato or hyacinth bean alone.

Impact of the revised starting lottery in the alpine speed events on performance of the top athletes

Before the 2016/17 season, the International Ski Federation conducted major changes to its starting lottery, which defines the starting order in advance of each race of the speed disciplines. As part of this change, the top seeded athletes from then on were able to pick a starting position. Therefore, the aim of this study is two-folded. First, we explored the pick behavior of the top athletes and analyzed if they were able to identify favorable starting positions. Second, we investigated the influence of the rule change on competitive balance. Our sample consisted of 322 races with 17,725 individual performances of the seasons 2011/2012 to 2020/2021 and all our analysis were run separately for Women’s Downhill, Women’s Super G, Men’s Downhill and Men’s Super G. We could show that for all disciplines and both genders athletes heavily preferred to start around starting position 7. To start from such positions only led to significantly better rankings in Men’s Super G (z = 2.04, p = .041), but common language effect size showed the same trend for Women’s Super G (CL: 51.9%) as well as Men’s (CL: 53.3%) and Women’s Downhill (CL: 53.6%) competitions. In addition, male starters seeded among the top 7 performed significantly better after the rule change (Downhill: z = 2.95, p = .002; Super G: z = 2.89, p = .002), whereas they performed worse in Women’s Super G (z = -2.77, p = .005). Our findings indicate that there is a change in competitive balance for men’s competitions but not for women’s competitions. In addition, combining these findings with the detected picking preferences of the top athletes, we conclude our work with suggestions for further adaptions of the starting lottery.

A comparative study of the competitive balance of the Spanish and English top football leagues on the basis of sport performance during the four last seasons before the Covid-19 pandemic

AbstractThe topic of this study has been the examination and comparison of the competitive balance of the Spanish and the English first leagues of soccer, called La Liga Santander and Barclays Premier League. The basis for the research project has been provided by a database of sixteen hundred elements, containing the data of the two leagues starting from the 2014/2015 season up to the 2017/2018 season. When choosing the time period for the study, we intended to avoid having to deal with the impact of Covid-19, which is why we picked exactly these competition seasons. We have primarily used statistical indicators. In the case of sports-related data, our inquiries have included the following: comparing and averaging the winning percentages per season, furthermore, the winning percentages of championship seasons, the distribution of goals scored and conceded and, finally, the calculation of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. Although there is one aspect of investigation according to which the competition balance of La Liga is closer to the optimal, the dispersion of winning percentages and the indicator of the goals conceded as well as the HHI index show that the Premier League is the more balanced competition of the two.

The Competitive Balance of the Ryder Cup: The Key Factor for the Success of the Modern Era of this Competition

The objective of this article, using the example of recent editions of the Ryder Cup, is to discuss the importance of the concept of competitive balance as a factor explaining the interest shown by spectators and TV viewers in sports competitions. To this end, after having constructed indicators to calculate the ex-ante competitive balance of the last 20 editions of this competition, a comparison is made with the results (gaps) observed on the course. The conclusion, which may be of interest to sports economists, future organisers and technicians (captains), is that "the competitive balance does not explain everything". Other concepts need to be developed. Keywords: Ryder Cup, competitive balance, annual performance indicator, current performance indicator, competitive exceptionality

The Competitive Balance of the Ryder Cup: The Key Factor for the Success of the Modern Era of this Competition

The objective of this article, using the example of recent editions of the Ryder Cup, is to discuss the importance of the concept of competitive balance as a factor explaining the interest shown by spectators and TV viewers in sports competitions. To this end, after having constructed indicators to calculate the ex-ante competitive balance of the last 20 editions of this competition, a comparison is made with the results (gaps) observed on the course. The conclusion, which may be of interest to sports economists, future organisers and technicians (captains), is that "the competitive balance does not explain everything". Other concepts need to be developed. Keywords: Ryder Cup, competitive balance, annual performance indicator

Internal tensile properties of characteristic zones in the electron beam weldment of TC17 titanium alloy

The internal tensile deformation of the individual base metal zone (BM), heat-affected zone (HAZ), and fusion zone (FZ) in a titanium alloy (Ti–5Al–2Sn–2r–4Mo–4Cr, wt.%) electron beam welding (EBW) joint is investigated. The ultimate strength of BM with a bimodal microstructure is 1047.5 MPa, and the elongation to fracture is 9.8%. HAZ is distinguished by the formation of a ghost structure with a hierarchical cluster structure within the initial αP grains, while the embedded αs laths dissolve in the matrix and relatively coarsening β grains are generated. During tension, the ghost structures strongly inhibit and deflect slip initiation and extension in the relatively coarsening β matrix. The competitive balance between strengthening from the ghost structure and weakening from the coarsening matrix dominates the mechanical properties of the HAZ, which then induces a hybrid fracture. The needle-shaped thermal martensite that formed during EBW causes the FZ to fail prematurely. The microstructural evolution of HAZ and FZ decreases their mechanical properties. This research may shed some light on the mechanical enhancement of titanium alloys by utilizing the multiple αL laths precipitated within the initial αP structure associated with the bimodal matrix.

경쟁균형지수의 분류와 분석에 관한 연구

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to classify and analyze the competitive balance index for measuring competitive balance in sports leagues.BR Method: The competitive balance index was classified and analyzed based on 10 indices related to concentration measurement, 5 indices related to dominance measurement, and 4 indices capable of measuring both concentration and dominance simultaneously.BR Results: The analysis results showed that most of the competitive balance indices can be applied to both open and closed leagues, but some indices cannot. Therefore, cuation is needed when using these indices. For example, indices such as range, relative entropy, Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHIC), Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHID), and descriptive statistics should not be applied to closed leagues, while indices such as Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient (GD), ANOVA-type measures, and mobility gain function (MGFt) should not be applied to open leagues.BR Conclusion: The competitive balance index is an important method for measuring competitive balance in sports leagues, analyzing the competitiveness and equality among teams in the league, and evaluating various policies and regulations to enhance the league’s competitiveness. Through this, fans can better understand the league’s competitiveness, and league operators can establish policies and regulations to enhance the league’s competitiveness. Therefore, further research on the competitive balance of various sports leagues is necessary based on the research results. These results are expected to provide useful insights to sports league operators, policy makers, and researchers.

Competitive balance and demand for European men's football: a review of the literature

ABSTRACT Research question In European men’s club football, competitive balance is decreasing. Review articles have concluded that the empirical studies do not provide a unanimous answer to the question whether this decrease leads to lower utility for the fans. This paper investigates whether the conclusion of the reviews is (still) correct. Research methods Qualitative analysis is applied to get a better interpretation of the results of the empirical studies. Results and findings There are three types of uncertainty of outcome: short-term, seasonal, and long-term, with possible different dimensions within one type. A possible interpretation of the literature is the following: a decrease in one or two types of uncertainty of outcome, or a certain dimension, can lead to serious reductions in welfare, while the conclusion may be different for other types or dimensions. Several studies suggest that a decrease in (a certain type of) competitive balance has no effect on welfare, or just a small effect, if the competitive balance remains above some minimum level whereas once the competitive balance is below this level, further decreases in it result in serious welfare reductions. Taking these and other points into account, the review concludes that it is highly plausible that the present level of competitive balance is below the welfare-maximising level in most competitions at least, and any further decrease in it will seriously reduce welfare. Implications Policies that improve competitive balance will plausibly also improve welfare. Research contribution Compared to other review studies, this paper pays more attention to the reasons why different empirical studies get different results, which enables a less ambiguous conclusion.

The impact of ‘super clubs’ on uncertainty of outcome in the UEFA women’s champions league

ABSTRACT In the last 15 years, an increasing number of men’s football clubs based in the men’s leagues generating the highest revenue (i.e. Big 5) have started to integrate women’s section into their structure. The emergence of these “super clubs” threatens the long-established financial and sporting inequalities found in European men’s football being replicated in the women’s game. This study examines the measures of outcome uncertainty in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) over the 2008–2019 period and how this has been influenced by the presence of “super clubs”. The results indicate a growing trend towards domination by “super clubs”, with outcome uncertainty significantly declining for matches where “super clubs” face other clubs. As indicated in previous research, uncertainty of outcome is necessary in women’s football to maximize spectators’ interest. Therefore, the authors recommend that UEFA should take actions to ensure competitive balance in the UWCL.

Combining beef cattle and sheep in an organic system. II. Benefits for economic and environmental performance.

Combining several animal species to optimise the performance of the whole farming system is one of the core tenets of agroecology. Here, we associated sheep with beef cattle (40-60% livestock units (LU)) in a mixed system (MIXsys) and compared its performances to those of a specialised beef cattle-only system (CATsys) and a specialised sheep-only system (SHsys). All three systems were designed to have identical annual stocking rates and similar farm areas, pastures and animals. The experiment was conducted for four campaigns (2017-2020) in an upland setting exclusively on permanent grassland under certified-organic farming standards. The young animals were fattened almost exclusively with forages: at pasture for lambs and indoors with haylage in winter for young cattle. Abnormally dry weather conditions led to hay purchases. We compared between-system and between-enterprise performances based on technical, economic (gross product, expenses, margins, income), environmental (greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy consumption) and feed-food competition balance indicators. The mixed-species association only benefited the sheep enterprise, with +17.1% meat production per LU (P<0.03), -17.8% concentrate used per LU (P<0.02), +10.0% gross margin (P<0.07) and +47.5% income per LU (P<0.03) in MIXsys vs SHsys, as well as environmental performance benefits via a reduction of 10.9% in GHG emissions (P<0.09) and 15.7% in energy consumption (P<0.03), and a 47.2% improvement in feed-food competition (P<0.01) in MIXsys vs SHsys. These results are due to both better animal performance and lower concentrate consumption in MIXsys, as presented in a companion paper. These benefits outweighed the additional costs of the mixed system, especially for fencing, in terms of net income per sheep LU. There were no between-system differences in productive and economic performance (kilos live-weight produced, kilos concentrate used and income per LU) for the beef cattle enterprise. Despite good animal performances, the beef cattle enterprises in both CATsys and MIXsys had poor economic performance due to large purchases of conserved forages and difficulty selling the animals, which were ill-adapted to the traditional downstream sector. This multiyear study at the farming-system level, which has thus far been underresearched for mixed livestock farming systems, highlighted and quantified the benefits for sheep when combined with beef cattle on economic, environmental, and feed-food competition performance.

The Fairness Competition Under UEFA Financial Fair Play

Financial Fair Play (FFP) is a regulation made by UEFA so that club finances remain sustainable and stable. Current conditions show that the implementation of FFP is still considered sub-optimal because the dominance of the club that won the league still exists. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of Financial Fair Play regulations by looking at Financial Performance, Capital Structure, and Transfer Player Expenses on Competitive Balance under the Union Europe Football Association. By using theoretical review of several articles related to research produce a hypothesis that the relationship between Financial Performance, Capital Structure, and Transfer Player Expenses variables has a positive relationship to Competitive Balance during the implementation of Financial Fair Play regulations in Europe.

‘You can look, but don’t touch’: competitive balance and dominance in the UEFA Champions League

ABSTRACT This paper examines the competitive balance of the Champions League between 1992/93–2019/20 focusing on both the group and knockout stages. The findings show that competitive balance has declined in the Champions League over time and that the competition has begun to be dominated by a select number of clubs. This situation has also worsened in the years following the inception of UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations in 2011. From a sporting economics perspective, the received theory suggests that such a decline in competitive balance could harm the product. If competitive balance continues to decline, the Champions League may face potential future challenges from the attractiveness of the product to broadcasters and commercial partners as well as the continuing emergence of financially dominant super clubs. This could also exacerbate the threat of breakaway European super leagues that would further damage the competition through the potential loss of elite teams within it.

Talent concentration and competitive imbalance in European soccer.

While most of the available literature on competitive balance analyses its impact on ticket sales and TV audiences, less empirical research is available that examines the observable variation in competitive balance across leagues and over time. This paper studies the concentration of player talent and end-of-season league points to empirically assess whether leagues with a more equal distribution of player talent produce a more balanced competition than leagues with less equal distribution. The longitudinal data we use to estimate our empirical model comes from professional soccer leagues in twelve Western European countries from 2005/06 thru 2020/21, yielding 5,299 club-season observations. Our empirical analysis indicates that talent concentration in a league significantly and positively impacts points concentration in that league. However, in specifications controlling for year, country, and division, this impact is only weakly significant or insignificant, suggesting that talent concentration does not significantly affect competitive balance in that league. Additionally, our findings demonstrate that the relationship between talent and points concentration does not vary considerably across the European leagues or over time. Our results suggest that repeated participation in the UEFA Champions League, with its considerable monetary returns by (more or less) the same subset of teams, does not increase competitive imbalance in the respective national league. Thus, with relatively few additional regulatory interventions, the promotion and relegation system in the open European soccer leagues seems effective in ensuring a balanced competition.