Illuminating the World Cup Effect: Night Lights Evidence from South Africa Gregor Pfeifer ∗ Fabian Wahl † Martyna Marczak ‡ University of Hohenheim University of Hohenheim University of Hohenheim December 4, 2016 Abstract This paper evaluates the economic impact of the $14 billion preparatory investments for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We use satellite data on night light luminosity at municipality and electoral district level as a proxy for economic development, applying synthetic control methods for estimation. For the average World Cup municipality, we find significantly positive, short-run effects before the tournament, corresponding to a reduction of unemployment by 1.3 percentage points. At the electoral district level, we reveal distinct effect heterogeneity, where especially investments in transport infrastructure are shown to have long-lasting, positive effects, particularly in more rural areas. JEL Codes: H54; O18; R11; R42; Z28 Keywords: Football World Cup; Public Infrastructure; Development; Night Lights Data; Synthetic Control Methods; Mega Sports Events; South Africa ∗Corresponding author: University of Hohenheim, Department of Economics (520B), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany; E-mail:
[email protected]; Phone: +49 711 459 22193. †University of Hohenheim, Department of Economics (520J), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany; E-mail:
[email protected]; Phone: +49 711 459 24405. ‡University of Hohenheim, Department of Economics (520G), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany; E-mail:
[email protected]; Phone: +49 711 459 23823. The authors are grateful for valuable remarks from Martin Gassebner, Christian Leßmann, M. Daniele Paser- man, Eric Strobl, and Stijn van Weezel as well as seminar participants at the Annual Conference of the German Economic Association’s Research Group on Development Economics, the IAAE Annual Conference, the Meeting of the German Economic Association, the ifo Workshop on Regional Economics, and the UEA Annual Conference.