US

College Athletes

If the NCAA let colleges pay athletes with more than scholarships (which currently may cover tuition, books, room and board), then top colleges in men’s basketball and football would pay most athletes substantial sums beyond full scholarships.

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu
MIT
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Alesina
Alberto Alesina
Harvard
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Altonji
Joseph Altonji
Yale
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Auerbach
Alan Auerbach
Berkeley
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Autor
David Autor
MIT
Strongly Agree
1
Bio/Vote History
Baicker
Katherine Baicker
University of Chicago
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
MIT
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
If colleges commit when the student joins (bidding on transfers not allowed) the earnings effect will be small. Too much uncertainty at 17
Bertrand
Marianne Bertrand
Chicago
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Brunnermeier
Markus Brunnermeier
Princeton
Agree
2
Bio/Vote History
Chetty
Raj Chetty
Harvard
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Chevalier
Judith Chevalier
Yale
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Currie
Janet Currie
Princeton Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Cutler
David Cutler
Harvard
Strongly Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Deaton
Angus Deaton
Princeton
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Duffie
Darrell Duffie
Stanford
Agree
1
Bio/Vote History
Edlin
Aaron Edlin
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
The million dollar (and often multi million dollar) salaries of top basketball coaches in NCAA basketball testify to the value of winning.
Eichengreen
Barry Eichengreen
Berkeley
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Most atheletes, or superstar atheletes?
Einav
Liran Einav
Stanford
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Fair
Ray Fair
Yale
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Finkelstein
Amy Finkelstein
MIT
Strongly Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Goldberg
Pinelopi Goldberg
Yale
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Chicago
Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
the best athletes at the best D-1 schools would obviously be paid a lot
Greenstone
Michael Greenstone
University of Chicago
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
& would be a series of distributional issues affecting non-revenue men's and women's sports who have largely benefited from cross subsidies
Hall
Robert Hall
Stanford
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Star basketball and football players, for sure. Historically, this has been happening through alumni off-campus deals and the like.
Hart
Oliver Hart
Harvard
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Since the stakes are high, the incentive to pay top athletes a lot is strong. Preserving equity among students is a small mitigating force.
Holmström
Bengt Holmström
MIT
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Hoxby
Caroline Hoxby
Stanford
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Hoynes
Hilary Hoynes
Berkeley
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Judd
Kenneth Judd
Stanford
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
Athletes will receive more money but it is not clear that there can be big gaps between the money sports and other sports.
Kaplan
Steven Kaplan
Chicago Booth
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Kashyap
Anil Kashyap
Chicago Booth
Strongly Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Players get few rents now. That would change for sure
Klenow
Pete Klenow
Stanford
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Levin
Jonathan Levin
Stanford
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Schools are not afraid to spend money to win at football & basketball - look at coaching salaries.
Maskin
Eric Maskin
Harvard
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Nordhaus
William Nordhaus
Yale
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
"Most" probably wrong, but likely see the superstar compensation phenomenon, with some million dollar athletes.
Obstfeld
Maurice Obstfeld
Berkeley
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Saez
Emmanuel Saez
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Samuelson
Larry Samuelson
Yale
Strongly Agree
1
Bio/Vote History
One would surely expect the athletes to capture some of surplus, just as baseball players did when the reserve clause was eliminated.
Scheinkman
José Scheinkman
Columbia University Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Schmalensee
Richard Schmalensee
MIT
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Some schools would clearly pay some athletes a good deal more, but I have a hard time with "most."
Shapiro
Carl Shapiro
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
There is a great deal of evidence that individual colleges would pay athletes more if allowed.
Shimer
Robert Shimer
University of Chicago
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Some would get paid substantial salaries. Unclear if median athlete would be helped. There are probably some cross subsidies today.
Stokey
Nancy Stokey
University of Chicago
Agree
1
Bio/Vote History
Presumably this is the definition of "top colleges in ... ."
Thaler
Richard Thaler
Chicago Booth
Strongly Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Pay would go up for stars, unless the schools could collude, as they do now. More interesting question: should the athletes be paid? Yes
Udry
Christopher Udry
Northwestern
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
There is a regular parade of recruiting violations in the face of potentially harsh penalties. The only question is if it would be "most".