Point shaving in NCAA Men's Basketball: Behavioral finance, scale, and deterrence

We examine point-shaving corruption in NCAA Men's Basketball betting markets, which has persisted despite deterrence policies. We collect data on players indicted or implicated for point-shaving within the last 50 years and find that: (1) the act is significantly more common among senior, or final-year, players and (2) lack of deterrence leverage is an important factor in the representative player's decision calculus. Lastly, we analyze properties of a potential behavioral finance policy to further deter point-shaving, whereby players receive a grant (athletic scholarship) that retroactively converts into a market-rate student loan given malfeasance. The policy's deterrence properties are examined theoretically. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study examines the point-shaving corruption in NCAA Men's Basketball betting markets and finds that it is more common among senior players. Lack of deterrence leverage is identified as an important factor in the players' decision-making process. Additionally, a potential behavioral finance policy is proposed to deter point-shaving by converting athletic scholarships into student loans given malfeasance.