Date of Publication

Spring 4-27-2016

Document Type

Undergraduate Project

Professor's Name

Dr. Emily Dane-Staples

Abstract

Prior research has found that salary discrimination based upon a player’s race was present and eventually disappeared from the National Basketball Association (NBA). Recent research has produced similar findings regarding salary discrimination between foreign and U.S. players, which too has produced conflicting results. Foreign players have continued to enter the NBA over the past decades and the game has expanded as a global brand. This study examined salary discrimination between foreign and U.S players after the implementation of the 2011-2012 CBA using 39 foreign and 39 U.S. players. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if salary discrimination persisted in the NBA between the 2011-2012 and the 2015-2016 seasons for these two groups of players and which of the statistical categories being measured had the greatest influence on a player’s salary. The study found that U.S. players received a salary premium of $230,000, though the difference was not significant. In regards to the entire population, the variables with the greatest influence on a player’s salary were Points per Game, Win Shares and Years in NBA.

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