3. The Olympics: Culture vs. Institutions
READING ASSIGNMENT:
Bernard, Andrew B. and Meghan R. Busse Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Resources and Medal Totals. The Review of Economics and Statistics 86 (1):

4. Plan Institutions vs. culture: Make domestic institutions personal
Make more explicit what has been implicit
Make domestic institutions personal
Who wins international competitions?

5. Culture vs Institutions

6. Culture My languages : Spanish, French, (Haitian Creole)
Places I’ve gone for work:

7. Intercultural Center
If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail
We often rely on cultural lenses
Attribute differences in levels of economic development, political regime, crime rates, gender inequality to…
“culture”
This class offers a non-cultural lens
Explain differences across countries & regions with…
individual incentives and constraints
shaped by institutions (domestic & international)

8. Culturalist explanations?
Does culture explain?
“They are different because of culture” =
“They are different because they are different”
WHY ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

9. Cultural story: Institutional: They have different values
Why is doing business in China is distinct?
Why has China experienced high rates of economic growth?
Cultural story:
They have different values
They value the future (investment, sacrifice for children)
Institutional:
Government has a corporate structure incentivizing LOCAL political leaders to compete for investment
Government officials seek to maximize survival in office

10. Why did the US give up the fixed exchange rate in 1971?
Cultural:
Peace and love movement of the 1960s led to cultural valuing of flexibility and freedom…
…man
Institutional:
Nixon didn’t want to raise interest rates before an election
Government officials seek to maximize survival in office

11. Figure out what people want to maximize
Then figure out what the constraints and opportunities are (shaped by institutions)

12. Making it personal

14. Why did this Teamster switch from all- American baseball, basketball, and football to bowling?
Why did he end up coaching a high school bowling team?

15. CHAPTER 1

16. Germany, the United States & bankruptcy
Why is bankruptcy tolerated in the USA but not in Germany?
Different cultures?
What is the #1 reason for bankruptcy in the USA?
MEDICAL BILLS
Here the USA is failing to properly invest in the health of its population, and the price is great uncertainty in credit markets!

18. CHAPTER 2

20. Prof. Cha (SFS) Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia (2008)
Sport is a prism through which countries project their image to the world & to their own people
Sport can facilitate domestic change (e.g., building up Beijing 2008)

21. Do some Olympic games privilege certain countries because of a cultural preference for different sports?
The Olympic Games:
33 sports
52 disciplines
nearly 400 events
Does culture determine who wins which games?
Does culture determine who wins the most gold medals?

22. What predicts Olympic medal count?
population
income
Communist dictatorship
host country
latitude
olympic-medal-count/

25. But specific sports? United States, China and Gold Medals in soccer???
Not part of our cultures so we’re not good at it?

26. ACCORDING TO OLYMPICS PERFORMANCE: USA has, arguably, the most successful soccer program in the world
1996: gold
2000: silver
2004: gold
2008: gold
2012: gold
World Cup: 3 times!
Really???...
WOMEN’S SOCCER!
Why? Culture?…
or Title IX?
1972: A federal law granting girls and women in high schools and colleges the right to equal opportunity in sports

27. The USA does not value soccer
The USA does value women’s/girl’s athletics
Institutional explanation for American dominance of women’s soccer
Title IX  Scholarships***

28. CHAPTER 3

29. Title IX in action!

30. (health, self-esteem)
Presumably, using public funds to promote sports is intended to produce a healthier, happier, and more psychologically balanced population
How can you achieve these goals if you only invest in the athletics of half of your population?
(you can’t)
The USA has an institutional solution (Title IX) which is upheld by other institutions (independent judiciary)
(health, self-esteem)

31. Research project
What predicts WOMEN’s Olympic medal count?...

32. Stop answering these questions with “culture”
Puzzles
Which countries do the best in athletics?
Which countries do the best in women’s athletics?
Which countries have the best health care?
Stop answering these questions with “culture”

33. The approach of this course: Understand the world through
Interests & Incentives
Shaped by political institutions
International
IMF
World Bank
United Nations
Regional organizations
Domestic
Democracy
Dictatorship
Veto players
How do government officials maximize tenure and promotion?

34. Study incentives and constraints
Culture is malleable
Study incentives and constraints

35. Thank you WE ARE GLOBAL GEORGETOWN!

36. EXAMPLES OF THESE KINDS OF STATEMENTS:

37. Law-like statements:
A particle to which no force is applied will move with constant velocity in a straight line.
Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
E=mc2

38. Descriptive statements:
Guatemala, 1993: The OAS restored democracy after President Serrano staged a self-coup.
After WWII, the new French government supported a strong enforcement mechanism for the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).
In the late 1990s, tariffs in Argentina fell for trading partners both inside of Mercosur and outside as well.

39. We can easily apply law-like statements to particular cases…
A particle to which no force was applied in Guatemala during 1993 moved in a straight line with constant velocity.
Particles of matter in Argentina during the 1990s attracted other particles in Mercosur and the rest of the world with forces directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
In France, E equaled mc2 after WWII.
True - but redundant - statements.

40. But some would judge the following “improper” because people don’t behave in a universal fashion the way “particles” do.
Membership in democratic regional organizations preserves democracy.
Insecure democracies seek to “lock-in” human rights using international organizations.
The “trade diversion” associated with regional trade agreements can cause overall tariffs to decline by weakening the political strength of the “losers” from free trade.

41. We have taken a law-like approach to what international institutions do:
Cooperation
Commitment
Laundering / Dirty work

42. Alternative (also valuable) approach:
History of international organizations
Descriptive
Less risky
Can lead to the view that every outcome is UNIQUE

43. Culture My languages : Spanish, French, (Haitian Creole) Teaching:
Research position:
Presentations of research: