Abstract
This paper studies the impact of a set of managerial characteristics on performance in the top division (Serie A) of the Italian football league during seasons 2000/2001–2009/2010. We employ a bivariate ordered probit model applied to match-level data, which allows for asymmetric effects at home and away matches and in goals scored and conceded. Our set of coach characteristics includes indicators of skill, experience, innate features as well as empathy with the team. We find that some managerial features matter even when we control for club power and past results. Performance is positively correlated with the manager having had experience abroad and with the manager being a former player with the club; but performance is worsened by lack of managerial experience. Other features affect only some particular aspects of performance. In particular, Italian managers are more defensive in home games while older managers are more defensive in away games. Our approach also identifies a negative effect of managerial turnover on defensive performance, an effect which is masked when a more traditional aggregated model is used.
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Notes
Age and Age2 are included in order to take into account nonlinear effects. The rationale is that growing older has a positive impact on his team’s results. But, at some point in time any further increase in the age may lead to a reduction in ability and performance. However, dropping the square term we obtain the same results.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to two anonymous referees for incisive suggestions and to Bruno Atzori for excellent research assistance. J. D. Tena acknowledges financial support from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, ECO2009-08100 and ECO2012-32401. Dimitri Paolini gratefully acknowledges financial support by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (PRIN), by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Legge n. 7), and Fondazione Banco di Sardegna. Claudio Detotto would like to acknowledge the facilities provided by the Faculty of Economics at the University of Guayaquil (Ecuador) and by the Institute of Statistics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile).
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Detotto, C., Paolini, D. & Tena, J.D. Do managerial skills matter? An analysis of the impact of managerial features on performance for Italian football. J Oper Res Soc (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41274-017-0215-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41274-017-0215-6