RT Generic T1 Illuminating the World Cup effect : night lights evidence from South Africa A1 Pfeifer,Gregor A1 Wahl,Fabian A1 Marczak,Martyna WP 2016/11/03 AB 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. K1 Südafrika K1 Wirtschaftsentwicklung K1 Fußballweltmeisterschaft PP Hohenheim PB Kommunikations-, Informations- und Medienzentrum der Universität Hohenheim UL http://opus.uni-hohenheim.de/volltexte/2016/1286