Times Two

Peter von Allmen, professor of economics, has published a general economics textbook—with Michael Leeds of Temple University, his co-author for the popular Economics of Sports (2001)—and a chapter in a handbook of readings on the economics of sports.

Economics (Addison-Wesley), also written with Richard Schiming of Minnesota State University, already has been released in what the publishing industry calls a “split” format.

Its chapters on microeconomics —the study of influences on small markets—were issued in paperback in early December. The chapters on macroeconomics—the study of large-scale influences on national economies—were published in paperback simultaneously with the issuance of the entire book in late December.

Each chapter on an economics principle includes “Life Lessons,” drawn from material that speaks to readers. For example, the “Supply and Demand” chapter discusses the market for coffee in a small college town, while the “Monopoly” chapter uses the price of attending a major league baseball game in Atlanta.

All three books include a Web-based tutorial and exercises for students called MyEconLab.

Peter also contributed a chapter on “The Economics of Individual Sports” in the new Handbook of Sports Economics Research, edited by John Fizel, professor of economics and director of the online M.B.A. program (iMBA) at Penn State University. Leeds (the husband of Eva Leeds, associate professor of economics at Moravian) also contributed a chapter.

The handbook can be used to supplement The Economics of Sports, which has been adopted by colleges and universities across the United States for courses in this popular field. Now in its second edition, it has been translated into Chinese, and one of its most popular markets is Australia.

The handbook covers both team and individual sports, including tennis, golf, and motor racing. It explores the state of the discipline in this fast-growing field, with chapters on such major topics as revenue and costs, labor markets, market structure, market outcomes, and public policy. An appendix offers a case study of the economic state of the National Football League.