Abstract des Autors

This paper investigates the impact of college baseball playing experience on player development time in professional baseball's minor leagues. Specifically , using data on all major league baseball players active during the 1989 regular season and holding constant such factors as playing position, game performance statistics, injury episodes, and trades, we find that prospects who extend their amateur baseball careers by playing at a four-year college advance to the majors nearly half a season more quickly than their minor league teammates having only a high school or junior college sports background. College baseball experience is evidently an important input into the production of major league baseball players. It benefits the owners of major league teams by serving as a talent screening device and by conserving on player development expenses. College baseball benefits athletes by serving as a signaling device and by providing insurance against failure in professional baseball. The exact mechanism by which rents are shared between Major League Baseball and the colleges and universities who contribute to the pool of amateur athletic talent remains a subject for future study. Verf.-Referat