The Economic Impact of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City

Abstract

This paper seeks to estimate the impacts generated from the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Using a data set representing 76 metropolitan statistical areas in the western United States, and later 31 metropolitan statistical areas in Utah and its bordering neighbors, I construct an Arellano-Bond dynamic panel data regression that seeks to model metropolitan employment growth had the Olympics never taken place. With this logic I apply the Arellano- Bond regression to real personal income and real average wages, in a vector autoregression framework, estimating gains to those variables over a reasonable timeframe. The predictions from these variables are then compared to actual figures in which a picture of the economic impact of the 2002 Games is generated. Using out of sample predictions I estimate Salt Lake City's Olympic impact in employment is roughly between 20,487 and 36,150 job-years, between $ 381 and $ 2,470 to real per-capita personal income, and a decrease of $ 273 to $ 2004 in real average wages.