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Does the Baseball Labor Market Properly Value Pitchers?

Kennesaw State University

Defense in baseball is a product of team production in which pitchers and fielders jointly prevent runs. This means that raw run-prevention statistics that economists often use to gauge the value of pitchers, such as earned run average, may not properly assign credit for their performances. Therefore, marginal revenue product derivations based on such statistics contain some erroneous information that may bias the estimates. In this article, the author examines a method for isolating pitcher contributions to the team production of defense. Evidence from the labor market suggests that pitchers are paid according to their individual contributions, consistent with the areas in which pitchers possess skill.

Key Words: baseball • joint production • marginal revenue product • pitchers • salary

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This version was published on December 1, 2007

Journal of Sports Economics, Vol. 8, No. 6, 616-632 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1527002506296366


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Bradbury, J. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?