James Reade

-
+44 (0) 118 378 5062
-
Professor
- Professor of Economics
- Research Division Leader (RDL)
Postgraduate supervision
I am interested in supervising research in applied economic areas, in particular applications in the area of sport. As sports are very well measured, and the incentives well understood, they can be ideal for the investigation of economic theories. I have published research investigating a range of economic phenomena using sports data; for example, discrimination and market efficiency. Many aspects of labour market functioning (workplace productivity, the impact of immigration and changes in regulatory oversight) and managerial decisions can, and have been investigated.Sport also enables classic economic issues to be analysed within the context of sport, for example the demand for attendance at sport, and strategic decisions made on the field. Data on sport has been extensively collected for decades, even centuries, enabling economic history analyses over long periods of time, and studies of important periods of change in sports.
Background
I studied Economics at Durham as an undergraduate, switching from a maths degree that I couldn't do at the end of my first year. After that, I went to Oxford to do an MPhil and DPhil (PhD), supervised by Sir Prof David F Hendry. I was then a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford before moving to the University of Birmingham to become a Lecturer in 2009, and in 2013 I moved to the University of Reading.My DPhil was predominantly in macroeconometric modelling forecasting, but gradually over time I've moved towards doing research using sport. That's because sport is a big part of the economy (it's not just leisure), but also because sport is so well measured that we can analyse the impact of decisions about scarce inputs on outputs and outcomes - the basis of all economic analysis. I've looked at what sport attendance patterns can tell us about individual preferences, and also what impact it can have on broader outcomes such as public health.
I've looked at forecasts of football matches made by experts, by everyday people, and by bookmakers, to try and understand what the biases in these forecasts can tell us about how we process information. I've looked at other outcomes on the field in sporting events to try and help us understand how people make decisions when faced with time pressure, and also social pressure - the influence of groups of people.
Academic qualifications
- BA Economics, Durham, Mphil and Dphil Economics, Oxford
- Applied Econometrics, economics of sport, macroeconomics.
Selected publications
- Prediction Markets, Social Media and Information Efficiency', 2016, with Leighton Vaughan Williams, Kyklos, Vol. 69, Issue 3, pp. 518-556.
- 'Whatever It Takes: The Effects of Rivalry on Unethical Behaviour,' with Edoardo Gallo (Oxford) and
- Gavin Kilduff (NYU). The Academy of Management Journal, Volume 59, October 2016, pp. 1508-1534.
- 'Forecasting Elections', 2016, with Leighton Vaughan Williams, Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 35, Issue 4, pp. 308-328.
- 'General-to-Specific (GETS) Modelling And Indicator Saturation With The R Package Gets', with Felix Pretis and Genaro Sucarrat, 2016, University of Oxford Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series, No. 794.
- 'Forecasting and Forecast Narratives: The Bank of England Inflation Reports', with Michael P. Clements, 2016, ICMA Centre Discussion Paper, University of Reading.
Publications
-
Dagaev, D.
,
Paklina, S.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2023) The Iron Curtain and referee bias in international football. Journal of Sports Economics ISSN: 1552-7794
-
Humphreys, B.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2023) Separating the crowds: examining home and away attendances at football matches. In: Rodríguez, P. , Taks, M. , Konning, R. , (eds.) Sports Economics: In Memory of Stefan Kesenne. Edward Elgar Publishing
-
Apergis, N.
,
Pan, W.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Wang, S.
ORCID: 0000-0003-2113-5521 (2023) Modelling Australian electricity prices using indicator saturation. Energy Economics , 120 ISSN: 1873-6181 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106616
-
Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 , Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. (2023) A decade of violence and empty stadiums in Egypt: when does emotion from the terraces affect behaviour on the pitch?. Empirical Economics ISSN: 1435-8921 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00181-023-02383-0
-
De Angelis, L.
and
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X (2023) Home advantage and mispricing in indoor sports’ ghost games: the case of European basketball. Annals of Operations Research , 325 pp. 391-418. ISSN: 1572-9338 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04950-7
-
Ramirez, P.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2023) Betting on a buzz: mispricing and inefficiency in online sportsbooks. International Journal of Forecasting , 39 (3). pp. 1413-1423. ISSN: 0169-2070 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2022.07.011
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X and van Ours, J. (2023) How sensitive are sports fans to unemployment?. Applied Economics Letters , 30 (3). pp. 324-330. ISSN: 1466-4291 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1985064
-
Fischer, K.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schmal, W. (2022) What cannot be cured must be endured: the long-lasting effect of a COVID-19 infection on workplace productivity. Labour Economics , 79 ISSN: 0927-5371 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102281
-
Pan, W.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Wang, S.
ORCID: 0000-0003-2113-5521 (2022) Measuring US regional economic uncertainty. Journal of Regional Science , 62 (4). pp. 1149-1178. ISSN: 1467-9787 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jors.12590
-
Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 , Bryson, A. , Dolton, P. , Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. (2022) Economics lessons from sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. In: Pedersen, P. , (eds.) Research Handbook on Sport and COVID-19. Business 2022 Edward Elgar Publishing , Cheltenham. pp. 9-18. ISBN: 9781802207569 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781802207576.00008
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2022) Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias. Economic Inquiry , 60 (3). pp. 1416-1436. ISSN: 1465-7295 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13063
-
Garcia-del-Barrio, P.
and
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X (2022) Does certainty on the winner diminish the interest in sport competitions? The case of Formula One. Empirical Economics , 63 pp. 1059-1079. ISSN: 1435-8921 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02147-8
-
Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 , Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Rewilak, J. , Schreyer, D. (2021) How big is home advantage at the Olympic Games?. In: Solberg, H. , Storm, R. , Swart, K. , (eds.) Research Handbook on Major Sporting Events. Edward Elgar Publishing | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3888639
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X and Batarfi, M. (2021) Why are we so good at football, and they so bad? Institutions and national footballing performance. De Economist , 169 (1). pp. 63-80. ISSN: 1572-9982 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10645-020-09379-6
-
Bryson, A.
,
Dolton, P.
,
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2021) Causal effects of an absent crowd on performances and refereeing decisions during Covid-19. Economics Letters , 198 ISSN: 0165-1765 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109664
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X and Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2021) Demand for public events in the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of European football. European Sport Management Quarterly , 21 (3). pp. 391-405. ISSN: 1618-4742 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2020.1841261
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Schreyer, D. , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2021) Stadium attendance demand during the COVID-19 crisis: early empirical evidence from Belarus. Applied Economics Letters , 28 (18). pp. 1542-1547. ISSN: 1466-4291 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2020.1830933
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 , Brown, A. (2021) Evaluating strange forecasts: the curious case of football match scorelines. Scottish Journal of Political Economy , 68 (2). pp. 261-285. ISSN: 1467-9485 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12264
-
Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X , Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 , Jewell, S.
ORCID: 0000-0002-4413-6618 (2021) It’s just not cricket: rules and the gentleman’s game. In: Butler, R. , (eds.) Advances in Sports Economics. Agenda Publishing , Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. ISBN: 9781788213554
-
Jewell, S.
ORCID: 0000-0002-4413-6618 and Reade, J.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8610-530X (2020) On fixing international cricket matches. The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics , 13 (2). pp. 37-82. ISSN: 1751-8008 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5750/jgbe.v13i2.1869
-
Reade, J.
and
Singleton, C.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8247-8830 (2020) European football after COVID-19. In: Billio, M. and Varotto, S. , (eds.) A new world post COVID-19: lessons for business, the finance industry and policy makers. Ca’ Foscari University Press , Venice, Italy. | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-442-4/028
- Reade, J. , Singleton, C. , Vaughan Williams, L. (2020) Betting markets for English Premier League results and scorelines: evaluating a forecasting model. Economic Issues , 25 (1). pp. 87-106. ISSN: 1363-7029
- Singleton, C. , Reade, J. , Brown, A. (2020) Going with your gut: the (in)accuracy of forecast revisions in a football score prediction game. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics , 89 ISSN: 2214-8043 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2019.101502
- Elaad, G. , Reade, J. , Singleton, C. (2020) Information, prices and efficiency in an online betting market. Finance Research Letters , 35 ISSN: 1544-6123 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.09.006
- Clements, M. and Reade, J. (2020) Forecasting and forecast narratives: the Bank of England inflation reports. International Journal of Forecasting , 36 (4). pp. 1488-1500. ISSN: 0169-2070 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2019.08.013
- Brown, A. and Reade, J. (2019) The wisdom of amateur crowds: evidence from an online community of sports tipsters. European Journal of Operational Research , 272 (3). pp. 1073-1081. ISSN: 0377-2217 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2018.07.015
- Brown, A. , Reade, J. , Vaughan Williams, L. (2019) When are prediction market prices most informative?. International Journal of Forecasting , 35 (1). pp. 420-428. ISSN: 0169-2070 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2018.05.005
- Reade, J. and Vaughan Williams, L. (2019) Polls to probabilities: comparing prediction markets and opinion polls. International Journal of Forecasting , 35 (1). pp. 336-350. ISSN: 0169-2070 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2018.04.001
- Pretis, F. , Reade, J. , Sucarrat, G. (2018) Automated General-to-Specific (GETS) regression modeling and indicator saturation methods for the detection of outliers and structural breaks. Journal of Statistical Software , 86 (3). ISSN: 1548-7660 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.18637/jss.v086.i03
- Brown, A. , Rambacussing, D. , Reade, J. , Rossi, G. (2018) Forecasting with social media: evidence from Tweets on soccer matches. Economic Inquiry , 56 (3). pp. 1748-1763. ISSN: 1465-7295 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12506
- Vaughan Williams, L. and Reade, J. (2016) Prediction markets, social media and information efficiency. Kyklos , 69 (3). pp. 518-556. ISSN: 1467-6435 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12119
- Vaughan Williams, L. and Reade, J. (2016) Forecasting elections. Journal of Forecasting , 35 (4). pp. 308-328. ISSN: 1099-131X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/for.2377
- Kilduff, G. , Galinsky, A. , Gallo, E. , Reade, J. (2016) Whatever it takes: rivalry and unethical behavior. Academy of Management Journal , 59 (5). pp. 1508-1534. ISSN: 1948-0989 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0545
- Reade, J. (2014) Information and predictability: bookmakers, prediction markets and tipsters as forecasters. Journal of Prediction Markets , 8 (1). pp. 43-76. ISSN: 1750-6751 | doi: 10.5750%2Fjpm.v8i1.865
- Croxson, K. and James Reade, J. (2013) Information and efficiency: goal arrival in soccer betting. The Economic Journal , 124 (575). pp. 62-91. ISSN: 0013-0133 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12033
- Gallo, E. , Grund, T. , James Reade, J. (2013) Punishing the foreigner: implicit discrimination in the Premier League based on oppositional identity. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics , 75 (1). pp. 136-156. ISSN: 1468-0084 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2012.00725.x
- James Reade, J. and Volz, U. (2011) Leader of the pack? German monetary dominance in Europe prior to EMU. Economic Modelling , 28 (1-2). pp. 239-250. ISSN: 0264-9993 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2010.09.006
- Spanos, A. , Hendry, D. , James Reade, J. (2008) Linear vs. log-linear unit-root specification: an application of mis-specification encompassing. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics , 70 (s1). pp. 829-847. ISSN: 1468-0084 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2008.00532.x