Economic impacts of hosting a major sporting event : Did the 1998 FIFA World Cup have positive impacts on employment?

Abstract: This paper examines the effects on employment due to a mega-sport event and more precisely this study demonstrates that the 1998 Football World cup in France had a significant positive effect on employment in the host regions. Moreover, it shows the impact differences between the host regions where some have been more affected than other. This work is the first to analyze the effect on employment in the host regions using a Difference in Difference approach. The basic DID model is then improved to add new parameters in the regression. It is one of the rare studies to find a significant positive impact on the economy owing of the World cup or the Olympic Games.