| Abstract | The purpose of this paper is to develop a general understanding of whether or not it is beneficial for a country to host the World Cup. The following sections will not only critique the assumptions underlying ex ante studies, but will also develop a model that works to more accurately analyze economic data collected both before and after a country has hosted the World Cup. Finally, the analysis will provide context for the results by comparing them with those of the same analysis performed on countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics-- a mega-event of similar magnitude. The paper concludes that ex ante results are inflated due to the inclusion of a variety of subjective assumptions such as time switching, crowding out, and the multiplier effect. However, it does not derive a consensus determination about the overarching benefit or detriment of hosting the World Cup. To do so, more granular data analysis must be performed on a larger sample, which will only be achievable after more countries have hosted the mega-event. |
