On the Price and Income Sensitivity of the Demand for Sports: Has Linder’s Disease Become More Serious?

Abstract

This study presents some results for household demand for sports in Norway. The results provide a firm basis for concluding that the demand for sports is income elastic. However, because both sports events and own sports activities are time-consuming, they may be subject to Linder’s disease, which is due to a shadow value of leisure increasing with income. This implies a negative bias in the income elasticity as estimated by us. The calculations suggest that the bias has become bigger in the period analyzed, that is, Linder’s disease has become more serious for sports over time.