PAWLOWSKI, T. ... et al, 2016. Can sport really help to meet the Millennium Development Goals? Evidence from children in Peru. Journal of Sports Economics, 19 (4), pp.498-521.
In contrast to the popular policy claim that sport might serve as vehicle to meet the Millennium Development Goals, empirical evidence based on large-scale survey data is largely missing. We use panel data based on a cohort of children and employ propensity score matching to identify the effects of sports participation on child development in Peru. Our findings suggest that participation in a sports group has positive impacts on subjective health and a measure of social capital. However, and in contrast to developed countries, we find no statistically significant effects on well-being and human capital formation.
This paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Sports Economics. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1527002516661601