A decade of violence and empty stadiums in Egypt: when does emotion from the terraces affect behaviour on the pitch?

In less than a decade, the Egyptian Premier League has experienced three distinct changes between periods of competition in either crowded or empty stadiums. We exploit this unique sequence of natural experiments, to answer two questions neglected by the still emerging literature on the effects of crowds on behaviour and decision making. First, does reinstating a supportive crowd after a long period of absence affect performances on the pitch? Second, is any reduced home advantage from competing in empty stadiums robust to repeating such an experiment? We find that eliminating crowds decreased or even reversed home advantage after an incident of extreme crowd violence in 2012, but there were no significant effects when crowds were reinstated in 2018 and once more excluded in 2020.

What cannot be cured must be endured: The long-lasting effect of a COVID-19 infection on workplace productivity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered economic shock waves across the globe. Exploiting a natural experiment, this paper estimates how being infected with the virus shapes individual-level productivity after having recovered. Studying the performance of professional athletes in Germany and Italy and applying a staggered difference-in-differences design, we find that individual performance drops by around 6 percent after a previously infected athlete returns to the pitch.

Home advantage and mispricing in indoor sports' ghost games: the case of European basketball.

Several recent studies suggest that the home advantage, that is, the benefit competitors accrue from performing in familiar surroundings, was-at least temporarily-reduced in games played without spectators due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. These games played without fans during the Pandemic have been dubbed 'ghost games'. However, the majority of the research to date focus on soccer and no contributions have been provided for indoor sports, where the effect of the support of the fans might have a stronger impact than in outdoor arenas.

Investigation of chordwise functionally graded flexural rigidity in flapping wings using a two-dimensional pitch-plunge model.

Insect wings are heterogeneous structures, with flexural rigidity varying one to two orders of magnitude over the wing surface. This heterogeneity influences the deformation the flapping wing experiences during flight. However, it is not well understood how this flexural rigidity gradient affects wing performance.

Surgical and percutaneous management of Aboriginal Australians with rheumatic heart disease: Timeliness and concordance between practice and guidelines.

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects over 40 million people globally who are predominantly young and from impoverished communities. The barriers to valvular intervention are complex and contribute to the high morbidity and mortality associated with RHD. The rates of guideline indicated intervention in patients with significant RHD have not yet been reported.