Analysing Winter Olympic Medals Through Economic Variables: A Comprehensive Examination

Abstract

The impact of economic development holds considerable significance across various domains, including the realm of sports, which has been extensively explored in existing literature. To establish this relationship between Olympic performance and economic factors, an examination was conducted on the medals obtained by countries during Winter Olympic Games spanning the game period from 1960 to 2018. The results of the Pedroni cointegration test signify the presence of a robust co-integration relationship across all test statistics conducted The Panel ARDL analysis reveals that Real GDP emerges as the singular influential factor affecting countries' medal scores in the long term, achieving statistical significance at the 1% level. Additionally, labor compensation exerts a discernible impact, albeit at a 10% significance level. Notably, in the short term, none of these variables exhibit any influence on medal scores, a finding corroborated by the results from the panel PMG analysis. Furthermore, among all variables examined, only Real GDP demonstrates Granger causality concerning medal scores. In contrast, none of the other variables exhibit a Granger causative relationship with medal scores. This profound insight underscores the specific and substantial role played by Real GDP in shaping the dynamics of medal scores, highlighting its unique influence on medal success.