1. The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Evidence from the National Basketball Association Kristen LaPlante December 1, 2009

2. Why do we care about sunk costs?

3. Does a higher salary lead to more playing time in the NBA? Previous literature focused on draft number: Staw & Hoang (1995) find higher draft number reduces playing time by as much as 23 minutes in year 2, with effect decreasing over time and significant through year 5 Camerer & Weber (1999) use more controls and alternative explanations, finding that an escalation effect persists only through year 3 and to a lesser degree

4. Summary Statistics

9. Conclusion Public appearance seems to be driving force in playing time decisions Teams may internally “rationalize” decisions as justification for fallacy Further research should be done to capture alternate variables not included in the scope of this study

10. The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Evidence from the National Basketball Association Kristen LaPlante December 1, 2009