Michael Lechner (University of St Gallen)

On-Campus Sports and Educational Outcomes of University Students: An Experimental Evaluation  (with Hans Fricke and Andreas Steinmayr)

Abstract:

This paper analyses the effects of an increase in on-campus sports activities on educational outcomes of university students at a Swiss university. For identification we randomize incentives for students to engage in more sports activities in the university facilities. We conduct the experiment with two cohorts of students. In the first cohort the incentives increased on-campus sports frequency by 0.26 times per week and improved grades on average by 0.14 standard deviations. In the second cohort the incentives had a weaker effect on sports frequency (0.16) and no significant effect on grades. The effect on grades is primarily driven by male students.