Causal effects of an absent crowd on performances and refereeing decisions during Covid-19

Citation

Bryson A, Dolton P, Reade JJ, Schreyer D & Singleton C (2021) Causal effects of an absent crowd on performances and refereeing decisions during Covid-19. Economics Letters, 198, Art. No.: 109664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109664

Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has induced worldwide natural experiments on the effects of crowds. We exploit one of these experiments that took place over several countries in almost identical settings: professional football matches played behind closed doors within the 2019/20 league seasons. We find large and statistically significant effects on the number of yellow cards issued by referees. Without a crowd, fewer cards were awarded to the away teams, reducing home advantage. These results have implications for the influence of social pressure and crowds on the neutrality of decisions.

Keywords
Attendance; Coronavirus; Covid-19; Home advantage; Natural Experiments; Referee Bias; Social Pressure

Journal
Economics Letters: Volume 198