Estimating coaching efficiency in professional team sports: Evidence from English association football

This study provides a review of the literature on sporting production funct ions with an emphasis on different input-output specifications and alternat ive estimation procedures. Empirical evidence is reported for English assoc iation football on the robustness of estimates of coaching efficiency to ch anges in estimation methods and the definition of team performance and play ing talent inputs. A measure of player quality based on predicted start-of- season transfer values is developed. It is found that the estimation of coa ching efficiency is sensitive to the choice of time-invariant efficiency mo dels versus time-varying and inefficiency effects models. It is also found that the results are little affected by different measures of team performa nce but are highly sensitive to the use of an ex post financial expenditure input measure. Ex ante input measures based on start-of-season player char acteristics or predicted transfer values are recommended as more appropriat e on both theoretical and empirical grounds.