Newsroom
February 2024
Micronomics is proud to support the work of Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission in bidding on and securing a major event like the FIFA World Cup ‘26™ for Los Angeles. Follow along on the journey to 2026 by following @LosAngelesFWC26! or @LASEC.
November 2023
In a recent article, Peter Quies examines the massive spending on soccer player transfer fees by Saudi Arabian clubs and predicts whether the oil-rich nation’s plan to turn the Saudi pro league into one of the top ten soccer leagues in the world will succeed. The full article is available here: Oil Can’t Buy You Love.
October 2023
Ken Romig recently spoke to the California State Long Beach University (CSULB) Economics Student Association as part of its invited speaker series. During the event, Romig discussed the importance of the role economists play in various legal scenarios including patent infringement, antitrust, and other causes of action.
Megan Fasules Todd was invited to speak at a Women in Economics networking event for female undergraduate students across the nation. Dr. Todd discussed her journey to economic consulting and the knowledge, skills, and abilities she feels are the most useful in her career.
June 2023
In June 2022, FIFA selected Los Angeles as one of the host cities for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. The Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee tasked Micronomics with evaluating the overall impact of this global sporting event on the Los Angeles region. The economic model we deployed assumes that Los Angeles is awarded eight games which are expected to attract nearly 150,000 out-of-town visitors above the norm during the relevant time period. Based on our analysis, we project that the World Cup will produce economic benefits far beyond any event held in Los Angeles in recent years: two-thirds greater than Super Bowl LVI held in SoFi Stadium in 2022, with projected tax revenue more than double the $17 million generated by the Super Bowl.
A copy of the report can be found under Sports & Entertainment at the Selected Publications tab of the Micronomics website.
Micronomics collaborated with Jason Segal for a look into how market forces associated with competition and monopsony impacted the world of golf. Unsurprisingly, the primary beneficiaries in the short run were professional golfers, especially those who signed on with LIV Golf. Golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith saw their earnings skyrocket. But even golf pros who failed to sign on with LIV Golf (i.e., Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, John Rahm) also benefitted from increases in PGA purse money driven by the presence of LIV Golf. All of this (and changes yet to come) can be explained by economic theories of competition. Copies of the complete report are available by contacting: rweinstein@micronomics.com
November 2022
The Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission asked Micronomics to assess the potential economic impact of the College Football Playoff National Championship game to be held at SoFi Stadium in January 2023. Roy Weinstein, Ryan Smart, and Jeremy De Gracia determined the game and its associated events (including public concerts and various philanthropic initiatives) will bring up to $225 million in total economic benefits to Los Angeles County. Using economic models and estimates they developed for the number of out-of-town visitors and associated spending, the authors projected that the Los Angeles region will see a gain of up to 1,900 annualized jobs and can expect to receive numerous other benefits. The full report is available here: Projected Economic Impact of the 2023 CFP National Championship.
May 2022
In a new Micronomics Labor and Employment blog, Megan Fasules Todd analyzed the proposed four-day workweek in California and what it could mean for employers and employees. She estimates the bill could change overtime requirements for 12 percent of employees and increase labor costs of large employers by millions of dollars. See the full blog here.
February 2022
Ken Romig recently spoke with Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) regarding the economic impact of short-term rentals (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) connected with Super Bowl LVI on Los Angeles County and Inglewood. Romig observed there has been a significant increase in Airbnb bookings in the area, particularly from Cincinnati, home of the conference finalists in the February 13 game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Romig noted that short-term rental hosts, familiar with the local community, make spending recommendations to their guests, and observed that a significant portion of guest spending on restaurants, cultural events, transportation, and shopping remains local. Airbnb hosts themselves spend a portion of their rental income on property management such as cleaning services, supplies, etc. Finally, economists have long recognized that consumer spending produces secondary and tertiary impacts in that an initial income recipient recycles that income by further spending that works its way through the economy. Accordingly, Romig concluded that the economic impact of short-term rentals connected with Super Bowl LVI on Los Angeles County and Inglewood is significant.
Recently, the Federal Circuit ruled on several matters relating to Section 1404(a) venue transfer motions. Many of these cases involve mandamus petitions stemming from transfer motion actions by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDTX). According to Law360.com and court dockets, more than 20 cases have been transferred out of the WDTX to other venues (frequently the Northern District of California) since June 2021. We have been following these developments and have begun to consider venue transfer motion issues from our perspective as economists.
The relevant statute, 28 U.S.C. §1404(a), permits a United States District Court to consider the convenience of parties and witnesses and transfer a civil action to another district or division where it might otherwise have been brought.
Per §1404, the District Court is to examine eight factors to determine whether a transferee forum is “clearly more convenient” than the current venue. Known as the Volkswagen factors, four of these factors address private interest concerns, and four address public interest concerns. In re Volkswagen AG, 371 F.3d 201, 203 (5th Cir. 2004).
The private interest factors are as follows:
(1) the relative ease of access to sources of proof;
(2) the availability of compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses;
(3) the cost of attendance for willing witnesses;
(4) all other practical problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive.
The public interest factors are as follows:
(1) the administrative difficulties flowing from court congestion;
(2) the local interest in having localized interests decided at home;
(3) the familiarity of the forum with the law that will govern the case;
(4) the avoidance of unnecessary problems of conflict of laws of the application of foreign law.
Several of the eight factors can be assessed from our standpoint as economists. The Federal Circuit has stated that private factor 3, the cost of attendance for willing witnesses, is typically the factor that should receive the most weight. In re Genentech, Inc., 566 F.3d 1338, 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2009). In evaluating this factor, one can compare costs of trial attendance by likely witnesses in the initial venue versus costs of attendance in the proposed new venue. This can be accomplished by examining airfare costs, hotel rates, etc. associated with each venue.
The impact of public factor 1, administrative difficulties flowing from court congestion, also can be quantified by an economist. During the pendency of litigation, uncertainty characterizes the availability of funds in dispute. But for this uncertainty, these funds would be available for investment. The inability to invest can be thought of as opportunity costs of delay that increase over time: The longer it takes for a case to be fully adjudicated, the greater these costs become.
Micronomics has compared the average length of time required to adjudicate disputes in U.S. district courts with the length of time required with dispute resolution using arbitration. Here, the opportunity cost of delay is measured by multiplying the additional time required times the value of assets at issue times interest that could be earned if these assets were available to invest.
Similarly, when analyzing venue transfer motions, one can compare average time to trial in candidate districts and measure the difference in opportunity costs facing the parties. These costs can reach into the millions of dollars, far outweighing cost differences confronting witnesses depending upon which venue is selected for trial.
Bottom line: Our sense is that economists can add value to the consideration of §1404 issues.
January 2022
Roy Weinstein was interviewed by CBS 2 News Los Angeles in connection with the Micronomics study of the economic impact of the Super Bowl on Los Angeles County and Inglewood. See below for the story.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-6fgxy1Ovv8rSuGuBYkDKrR2nG8qLJEn/view?usp=sharing
November 2021
Megan Fasules Todd served as a discussant and moderator for the Science and Engineering Indicators: Measuring S&E Education, Work Force, and Research Output panel at the 2021 Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Research and Policy Conference. The Science and Engineering Indicators are a series of reports from the National Science Foundation to Congress that provide quantitative information about science, engineering, mathematics, and technology (STEM) in the United States. Dr. Todd used her labor and education background to ask questions and provide suggestions for the future of STEM publication output, academic research and development, K-12 education, and workforce.
September 2021
Micronomics was retained by the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission to determine the economic impact of Super Bowl LVI on Los Angeles County and on the City of Inglewood, where the game will be played in the new, SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022. The authors of the Micronomics study (Roy Weinstein, Joe Hale, and Jeremy DeGracia) used estimates for number of visitors, average hotel rates, and daytime spending per person per day to forecast that Super Bowl LVI will produce economic benefits between $234 million and $477 million to LA County, including tax revenue between $12 million and $22 million. Millions of additional tax dollars will go to the State of California. These gains are associated with between 2,200 and 4,700 new jobs in the Los Angeles region. Employment in five industries (passenger transportation; hotels and motels; personal care services; full-service restaurants; and limited service restaurants) constitutes more than half of these gains. The complete study is available at the “Selected Publications” tab of this website under Sports & Entertainment.
April 2021
According to a recent study by Dr. Irina Zotova and Pete Yu, the Covid-19 pandemic brought about a decrease in U.S. domestic airfares of $24 per quarter beginning with the first quarter of 2020. Using an extensive database of airline information maintained by the U.S Dept. of Transportation, the authors found the impact of the pandemic to be pervasive across both major and smaller U.S. airports. The study reflects ongoing interest in the airline industry by Dr. Zotova, whose previous work includes examination of the short- and long-term impacts of aviation disasters on stock prices of industry participants. Copies of the current study are available on the Publications page of this website.
November 2019
In a new study, Ryan Smart and Roy Weinstein addressed ways in which current attitudes toward team sports have impacted the landscape of amateur and professional sports in the United States. They observed that while in the past, kids participating in local community sports would have no difficulty finding others to play with, but the advent of exclusive, expensive traveling teams has left many kids behind. This has created a vacuum of opportunity for local kids who don’t make the cut or who are unable to afford the kinds of financial and other commitments required by traveling teams. In addition, traveling teams push kids to specialize in one sport despite the fact that several studies have shown that young athletes who concentrate on one sport were far more likely to sustain overuse injuries than their multi-sport peers. Once they turn professional, it’s not only the athlete that suffers – the economic burden shouldered by sports teams and their insurers can be enormous. Over the past 15 years, MLB teams have spent more than $7 billion for players on the disabled list; the 2018-2019 NBA season saw players miss more than 5,000 games due to injury or illness; injuries cost the English Premier Soccer League $267 million for the 2018-2019 season. At least some of these costs can be traced back to too many years of overly intense training on young bodies. Taking a step in the right direction, the NBA recently released guidelines for youth basketball advocating delayed specialization, at least one day a week of rest, extended time away from the sport each year, and age-specific scheduling. Other sports leagues should take notice.
For more information, please contact Roy Weinstein at RWeinstein@Micronomics.com.