Medals in transition: explaining medal performance and inequality of Chinese provinces

Data from the Chinese National Games from the 1950s to 2001 are used to study the determinants of medal performance in China's provinces and sports inequality across provinces. China's transition from a planned to market regime had four effects. First, the impact of provincial government spending relative to GDP on sports performance has become more productive after the transition, perhaps due to the rising importance of local prestige. Second, the transition has also enhanced the effectiveness of human resources on medal performance. Third, the accumulation of physical wealth has led to a better medal performance after the transition, while at the same time economic development associated with the transition has attracted educated people away from sports to more lucrative pursuits. Fourth, the transition has lowered sports inequality among provinces. In exploring the determinants of sports inequality, we find that the main factors are population and government spending during the planned regime but income level and population in the market regime. Journal of Comparative Economics33 (1) (2005) 158-172.