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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2015
  5. Bankruptcy Rates among NFL Players with Short-Lived Income Spikes

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Bankruptcy Rates among NFL Players with Short-Lived Income Spikes

  • Kyle Carlson
  • Joshua Kim
  • Annamaria Lusardi
  • Colin F. Camerer
American Economic Review
vol. 105, no. 5, May 2015
(pp. 381–84)
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Abstract

We test for consumption smoothing using bankruptcy data on players in the National Football League (NFL), who typically earn several million dollars during an income spike that lasts a few years. The life-cycle hypothesis predicts that players should save substantially while playing and then have little risk of bankruptcy post-NFL. However, players in our sample begin to file for bankruptcy soon after they stop playing and continue filing at a high rate through at least the first 12 years of retirement. Players' total earnings and career lengths have surprisingly little effect on the risk of bankruptcy.

Citation

Carlson, Kyle, Joshua Kim, Annamaria Lusardi, and Colin F. Camerer. 2015. "Bankruptcy Rates among NFL Players with Short-Lived Income Spikes." American Economic Review, 105 (5): 381–84. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151038

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
  • J44 Professional Labor Markets; Occupational Licensing
  • L83 Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
  • Z22 Sports Economics: Labor Issues