Abstract

Governments have spent billions to accommodate the Olympic Games in recent times. While the motivations for hosting the Games are complex, those who seek public funding for them use the promise of substantial economic returns to justify public subsidies. Do the Olympic Games represent an extraordinary economic opportunity for nations and cities worthy of significant taxpayer support? The purpose of this chapter is to assess the economic impact of the Olympics and the wisdom of the use of public funds to support them. Particular attention is focused on the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. The evidence gleaned from the experiences of these two cities indicates that the economic impact was more modest than that projected by those promoting the event in those cities. The first section of this chapter reviews the literature as it relates to an assessment of the impact of mega-events. In the next section, the strengths and shortcomings of the theory and techniques used by those who advocate using public funds to host the Games are examined. In the subsequent section of the chapter, the authors discuss the after-the-event model that is proposed to estimate the impact. Actual estimates are presented in the chapter's next section. Conclusions and policy implications are articulated in the final section of the study. Einführung (gekürzt und geändert)