EFFICIENCY OF RACETRACK BETTING MARKETS

edited by Donald B Hausch (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) , Victor SY Lo (University of British Columbia, Canada) , & William T Ziemba (University of British Columbia, Canada)

Table of Contents (155k)
Preface to 2008 Edition (297k)
Introduction (155k)

About Donald B Hausch

About Victor SY Lo

A reprint of one of the classic volumes on racetrack efficiency, this book is the only one in its field that deals with the racetrack betting market in-depth, containing all the important historical papers on racetrack efficiency. As evidenced by the collection of articles, the understanding of racetrack betting is clearly drawn from, and has correspondingly returned something to, all the fields of psychology, economics, finance, statistics, mathematics and management science.

Contents:

Psychological Studies
Utility Preferences of Racetrack Bettors
Economic and Mathematical Insights
Efficiency of Win Markets and the Favorite-Longshot Bias
Prices versus Handicapping: Place and Show Anomalies
Efficiency of Exotic Wagering Markets
Research in the Commonwealth and Asia

Readership: Postdoctoral and graduate students, researchers, academics, and professionals interested in racetrack betting.

“This volume contains many seminal works exploring the efficiency of racetrack betting markets. Since its first publication, this book fast became the bible for all leading betting market scholars and practitioners. The contents have been debated at many academic conferences and the ideas contained here have spawned several successful racing syndicates. There are gems within these pages for the discerning scholar of speculative markets in general and racetrack betting markets in particular. Each time I read the book, fresh ideas for new research spring to mind. This is a ‘must read’ and a ‘must re-read’ for anyone seriously interested in racetrack betting markets. For those who have stalked the Internet trying desperately to get hold of a copy of the original volume at a reasonable price, this is a much welcomed 2008 edition.”

Professor Johnnie E V Johnson
Director, Centre for Risk Research
University of Southampton, UK

“Efficiency of Racetrack Betting Markets has attained cult status among serious students of betting, and the few copies in private hands have long been prized and jealously guarded by their owners. It is indeed a genuine classic which is as relevant today as it was on the day it was first published. As such, it deserves pride of place on the desks of all who care about this fascinating field of enquiry.”

Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams
Director of the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University
Editor of Information Efficiency in Financial and Betting Markets, Cambridge University Press

“Horseplayers have long understood what economists have recently come to appreciate — that the racetrack provides an intriguing laboratory for a better understanding of human behavior. Every year millions of dollars are gambled on horses, and crunching the numbers yields important insights into how real people think about risk and uncertainty, and about how we are often rational and sometimes irrational when making our picks. This extraordinary volume brings together much of the key economic research on these questions, while keeping a consistent focus on the racetrack. The various contributions provide an intriguing tour for the roving economist, and also some key insights for the sharp horseplayer.”

Justin Wolfers
Assistant Professor, Business and Public Policy
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

680pp		Pub. date: Jun 2008
ISBN: 978-981-281-918-5 981-281-918-5		US$121 / £67

680pp		Pub. date: Jun 2008
ISBN: 978-981-281-919-2(ebook) 981-281-919-3(ebook)		US$157

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