Policy and Policy Response on the Court: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of the Three-Point Line Extension in Basketball

Justin A. Ehrlich; Shankar Ghimire; Thomas R. Sadler; Shane D. Sanders

doi:10.1177/15270025221111790

Policy and Policy Response on the Court: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of the Three-Point Line Extension in Basketball

Justin A. Ehrlich, Shankar Ghimire, Thomas R. Sadler, Shane D. Sanders

Department of Sport Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper considers recent and historical changes in the three-point line distance at the NCAA and NBA levels as an example of policy change with highly-measurable outcome(s). The paper presents several empirical tests describing a point-maximizing basketball team's optimal allocation of two-point and three-point shots. It does so primarily in the context that the NCAA Men's Basketball three-point line was extended from 20′9″ to 21′9″ in advance of the 2019–20 season, and similar analysis for the NBA in the 1990s. We find that a three-point line extension significantly lowers three- and two-point shot proficiency, while decreasing (increasing) three-point (two-point) shot volume.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	159-173
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Sports Economics
Volume	24
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/15270025221111790
State	Published - Feb 2023

Keywords

C72
J18
J48
L83
P16
Z28
policy response
public choice
sports economics
strategic offsetting behavior
substitution

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)

Access to Document

10.1177/15270025221111790

Cite this

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abstract = "This paper considers recent and historical changes in the three-point line distance at the NCAA and NBA levels as an example of policy change with highly-measurable outcome(s). The paper presents several empirical tests describing a point-maximizing basketball team's optimal allocation of two-point and three-point shots. It does so primarily in the context that the NCAA Men's Basketball three-point line was extended from 20′9″ to 21′9″ in advance of the 2019–20 season, and similar analysis for the NBA in the 1990s. We find that a three-point line extension significantly lowers three- and two-point shot proficiency, while decreasing (increasing) three-point (two-point) shot volume.",

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Policy and Policy Response on the Court: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of the Three-Point Line Extension in Basketball

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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