The gold rush: Analysis of the performance of the Spanish Olympic federations

Abstract

Research question: This study assesses the performance of the Spanish Sports Federations in the Olympic Games of Beijing 2008 and London 2012 from the point of view of their efficiency in the use of the available resources. The research aims to identify the possible existence of a behaviour pattern in the performance of these sports federations and, particularly, the influence of the different funding sources on the results. Research methods: The measurement of the relative efficiency of the 22 federations that participated in both editions is carried out by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis methodology. The Malmquist index is used to analyse the evolution of the efficiency and, a persistence study, to evaluate the consistency of the results. Finally, correlations are estimated to verify the possible links between the efficiency of the federations and their funding sources. Results and findings: The study captures the relative efficiency of the federations in the sample, a deceleration in the performance being observed between Beijing 2008 and London 2012. It finds little relation between the relative efficiency of the federations and their different funding sources. Implications: This study may be especially relevant in a context where an important amount of public resources is earmarked for elite sports, without clarifying the “value for money” of such investments. It hopes to contribute to the existing literature with regard to the measurement of efficiency in sports through the introduction of indicators which can capture the performance of sports federations more precisely.

Keywords

• data envelopment analysis (dea)
• efficiency
• performance
• sport federations
• olympic games
• sport funding