The unintended consequence of Financial Fair Play

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine competitive balance in European football leagues before and after the inception of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations by Union of European Football Associations in 2011, designed to bring about financial stability and improve competitive balance in the European game. Design/methodology/approach The research focuses on the top division football leagues in England (English Premier League), Germany (Bundesliga), France (Ligue 1), Italy (Serie A) and Spain (La Liga). The paper is organised into two distinct time periods: pre-FFP, comprising the six seasons between 2005/2006 and 2010/2011; and post-FFP, comprising the six seasons between 2011/2012 and 2016/2017. The paper uses recognised measures of concentration and dominance to measure competitive balance. Findings The results show a statistically significant decline in competitive balance post-FFP for leagues in Spain, Germany and France but not for England and Italy. Furthermore, the results report significantly higher levels of concentration and dominance by a select number of clubs in Germany. Originality/value The paper is one of the first to analyse competitive balance in this way both pre- and post-FFP. Whilst the paper cannot demonstrate a causal link between FFP and competitive balance, there are strong indications that competitive balance has been adversely affected (for some leagues) since the regulations have been imposed. To that end, the paper argues that FFP has had “unintended consequences” in respect of competitive balance.

目的 本文旨在研究2011年欧洲足球协会联盟（UEFA）推出财政公平竞赛（FFP）规则前后欧洲足球联赛的竞争平衡情况，该规则旨在实现欧洲足球赛事的财务稳定并改善竞争平衡。 设计/方法/途径 研究聚焦于英格兰（英超联赛）、德国（德甲联赛）、法国（法甲联赛）、意大利（意甲联赛）和西班牙（西甲联赛）的顶级足球联赛。本文分为两个不同的时间段：FFP之前，包括2005/2006赛季到2010/2011赛季的六个赛季；FFP之后，包括2011/2012赛季到2016/2017赛季的六个赛季。本文使用公认的集中程度和优势衡量方法来衡量竞争平衡。 研究结果 结果显示，西班牙、德国和法国的联赛在FFP之后竞争平衡在统计上显著下降，但英格兰和意大利的联赛并非如此。此外，结果表明德国少数俱乐部的集中程度和优势水平显著更高。 创新性/价值 本文是首批以这种方式分析FFP前后竞争平衡的论文之一。虽然本文无法证明FFP与竞争平衡之间存在因果关系，但有强烈迹象表明，自规则实施以来，（某些联赛的）竞争平衡受到了不利影响。为此，本文认为FFP在竞争平衡方面产生了“意想不到的后果”。