Open Access
Bordering dynamics in sports among Spanish and French border regions
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-10-17) Lera López, Fernando; Rapún Gárate, Manuel; Economía; Ekonomia; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The role that sports play in cross-border cooperation still remains unclear and under-researched. This paper aims to address this gap by conducting a qualitative study on the impact of basketball and hiking/mountaineering on cross-border cooperation in the New Aquitaine, Basque Country, and Navarre (NAEN) Euroregion. The research identified some significant barriers to enhancing cross-border sports cooperation, primarily associated with regional and national sports legislation and structure. However, the evidence also revealed a lack of information among sports agents regarding opportunities for cross-border sports participation. Also, we present some differences in terms of border cooperation for each sport analyzed. Some policy implications are suggested to increase cross-border cooperation in sports, focusing on creating networks for shared information and establishing clear roles and responsibilities among sports agents to enhance cooperation. These changes should precede the development of targeted logistical and financial support for sports activities in these border regions.
Open Access
Measuring the economic impact of covid-19 on the uk’s leisure and sport during the 2020 lockdown
(MDPI, 2021) Kokolakakis, Themis; Lera López, Fernando; Ramchandani, Girish; Economía; Ekonomia
This research evaluates the effect of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic on sport Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and consumer expenditure in the leisure sector in the United Kingdom (UK). The leisure sector is divided into leisure at home and away from home, examining in this way the dif-ferent patterns that emerged because of the national lockdown in 2020. The effect on sport GDP is examined using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) surveys and the UK Sport Satellite Account (SSA). The study found that, because of its reliance on human contact, sport GDP is likely to decline by more than twice the rate of the overall economy. Furthermore, this finding is consistent with the 2020 consumer expenditure on leisure that shows increases in spending on home leisure but also a huge decline in spending on out-of-home entertainment. The decline in GDP is extremely likely to put pressure on profit margins and hence threaten the survival of private enterprises, raising issues of sustainability under conditions of a pandemic. Increases in long-term public funding for reducing sport inequalities should be considered along with short-term relief packages for the sport sector. Additional policy suggestions are offered to address these issues.
Open Access
The debate surrounding the new economy: an approach for an analysis
(2001) Billón Currás, Margarita; Hernández Nanclares, Nuria; Lera López, Fernando; Economía; Ekonomia
The current debate over the possible existence of a 'new economy' calls for an interpretation and analysis of the phenomenon from various points of view. Thus, the first part of the article contains a description of some of its main characteristics viewed both from the microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective. The fundamental role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is highlighted in both cases. The second part of the article discusses the major problems involved in measuring this phenomenon and the available data relating to it. This gives an indication not only of the importance of 'the new economy' but also of the difficulties involved in estimating its dimensions.
Open Access
Actividad física y salud autopercibida en personas mayores de 50 años
(Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, 2017) Lera López, Fernando; Garrués Irisarri, Mirian; Ollo López, Andrea; Sánchez Iriso, Eduardo; Cabasés Hita, Juan Manuel; Sánchez-Santos, José Manuel; Economía; Ekonomia; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
El propósito del estudio es analizar los posibles efectos de la actividad física sobre la salud autopercibida. Para ello, se encuestó a 765 personas entre 50-70 años durante 2012 en España. Se utilizó el cuestionario internacional de actividad física (IPAQ) para estimar el equivalente metabólico de la tarea (MET) total y en cuatro ámbitos: trabajo, ocio, hogar y desplazamientos. La salud auto-percibida se obtuvo de la escala visual analógica del EQ-5D-5L. Los resultados muestran que únicamente el gasto energético de actividad física en el tiempo de ocio incide positivamente en el nivel de salud percibido, el resto de ámbitos no tienen influencia significativa. Asimismo, la autopercepción de la salud es más negativa con mayor edad, menor nivel educativo y mayor frecuencia de uso de servicios sanitarios. En conclusión, la actividad física desarrollada en el tiempo libre podría plantearse como alternativa para mejorar la calidad de vida de los mayores.
Open Access
Determinants of sport performance in European football: what can we learn from the data?
(Elsevier, 2018) Zambom Ferraresi, Fabíola; Ríos Ibáñez, Vicente; Lera López, Fernando; Economía; Ekonomia
Nowadays game-related statistics in the sports industry are demanded by coaches, players, managers, journalists, supporters, fans, video games developers, betting markets and academics. However, the employment of game related statistics to analyse performance in football (soccer) has inherent problems given it is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon. This study analyses the importance of a large number of possible determinants of sport performance in the 'Big Five' European football leagues during the period 2012/13-2014/15. To this end, Bayesian model averaging techniques and relative importance metrics are employed. The results obtained point to the existence of a set of robust determinants in sport performance. This set of drivers comprises (i) assists, (ii) shots conceded, (iii) saves made by the goalkeeper, (iv) the number of precise passes with respect to the total number of passes, and (v) shots on target. The results of the study support the idea that offensive actions are more relevant than defensive ones. In addition, we find the existence of some performance indicators that have usually been ignored by previous analyses, such as saves made by the goalkeeper and assists. These findings could help the decision-making process of the coaching, scouting and managerial units of football clubs. Finally, the modelling techniques employed in this context can be generalized to gain knowledge in other fields of knowledge to extract factors affecting complex problems from large data sets. This could be particularly interesting when previous research has not yet obtained a well-defined and robust set of factors explaining these complex problems.
Open Access
Public policies and sport participation in Spain and Portugal
(Routledge, 2023) Gómez Gómez-Plana, Antonio; Lera López, Fernando; Maia, António de Araújo Barros; Economía; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE
This chapter examines the transformation and evolution of sports participation that has occurred in Spain and Portugal during the last years and the relevance of the public policies in explaining this evolution. The main areas covered in this chapter include an analysis of the evolution of sports participation in both countries, considering potential similarities. It also discusses the public policies developed in sport by policymakers in both countries and the main laws that regulate this activity. It also examines the distribution of public expenditure in sports within the main levels of public administration in Spain and Portugal. The chapter finishes with a comparison of sports participation and sport public policies developed in both countries.
Open Access
Práctica deportiva y políticas públicas en el deporte en España
(FUNCAS, 2019) Lera López, Fernando; Suárez Fernández, María José; Economía; Ekonomia
El objetivo del artículo es ofrecer una panorámica de la evolución reciente y de las variables asociadas a la práctica deportiva en España, así como de las políticas públicas que se han desarrollado en materia deportiva. El artículo se estructura en tres partes. En primer lugar, se hace un análisis descriptivo de la evolución de los hábitos deportivos en España durante las últimas décadas. En segundo lugar, se efectúa una revisión de la literatura económica relativa a los factores asociados a la realización de deporte por la población española. Además, se lleva a cabo un análisis econométrico de la probabilidad de practicar deporte de forma regular, empleando las cuatro últimas Encuestas de hábitos deportivos, correspondientes a los años 2000, 2005, 2010 y 2015. De esta forma se puede determinar si ha habido cambios en la importancia relativa de las variables relacionadas con la práctica deportiva. En tercer lugar, se describe la estructura de las políticas de fomento del deporte en España y se revisa la evolución reciente del gasto público en esta materia, tanto a nivel nacional como según el tipo de administración.
Open Access
Does regional disadvantage affect health-related sport and physical activity level? A multi-level analysis of individual behaviour
(Routledge, 2017) Wicker, Pamela; Downward, Paul; Lera López, Fernando; Economía; Ekonomia
This study examines the role of regional government quality in health-related participation in sport and physical activity among adults (18–64 years) in 28 European countries. The importance of the analysis rests in the relative autonomy that regional and local governments have over policy decisions connected with sport and physical activity. While existing studies have focussed on economic and infrastructural investment and expenditure, this research investigates the quality of regional governments across 208 regions within 28 European countries. The individual-level data stem from the 2013 Eurobarometer 80.2 (n = 18,675) and were combined with regional-level data from Eurostat. An individual's level of participation in sport and physical activity was measured by three variables reflecting whether an individual's activity level is below, meets, or exceeds the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The results of multi-level analyses reveal that regional government quality has a significant and positive association with individual participation in sport and physical activity at a level meeting or exceeding the guidelines. The impact is much larger than that of regional gross domestic product per capita, indicating that regional disadvantage in terms of political quality is more relevant than being disadvantaged in terms of economic wealth.
Open Access
Do educational inequalities affect Internet use? An analysis for developed and developing countries
(Elsevier, 2021) Billón Currás, Margarita; Crespo, Jorge; Lera López, Fernando; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE
This study investigates whether the existence of educational inequalities at the country level affects Internet use. Additionally, we explore the extent to which these impacts depend on countries' economic development levels. We use a logit model and data set of 69 high- and middle-income countries for the period 2005-2015. We find a negative relationship between Internet use and education inequality for the whole sample. The results confirm that, in addition to the level of education and other socioeconomic variables, the distribution of formal education among citizens within a country is also important to explain Internet use. We also obtain that this distribution affects Internet use to a higher extent in middle-income economies in comparison with high-income ones. Unlike the positive influence of educational levels obtained in the academic literature, the existence of within-country educational disparities negatively influences Internet use. This study demonstrates the influence of countries' educational structure in relative terms in explaining Internet use.
Open Access
Hosting a football club as a source of social trust and civic pride
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-04-30) García, Jaume; Lera López, Fernando; Sánchez-Santos, José Manuel; Economía; Ekonomia; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This research conducted an analysis to ascertain the role that a professional sports club plays in the development of social capital and civic pride within its host community. We analysed the determinants of social trust and civic pride by means of an ordered Probit model and a standard binary Probit model based on the information provided in a survey. Our results suggest the existence of a link between club identification and civic pride, but there is no relationship with social trust (the proxy of social capital). The proposed models offer a clearer understanding of the intangible and indirect impacts on a community associated with hosting a professional football club. They emphasize certain social and community impacts that exhibit characteristics of non-pecuniary public goods.