Does a country’s income inequality affect its citizens’ quest for equality in leisure? Evidence from European men’s football

Scelles, Nicolas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6177-5307 and François, Aurélien (2021) Does a country’s income inequality affect its citizens’ quest for equality in leisure? Evidence from European men’s football. Economics and Business Letters, 10 (2). pp. 133-139. ISSN 2254-4380

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Abstract

Does a country’s income inequality affect its citizens’ quest for equality in leisure? To answer this question, the letter investigates the impact of competitive balance on stadium attendance in European men’s football over the 2006-18 period, splitting leagues into groups depending on their country’s income inequality. Competitive balance has a significant negative impact in countries with lowest income inequality and a significant positive impact in countries with highest income inequality and the whole sample. Findings suggest that, in leisure, European football fans look for the (in)equality their national economy does not offer.