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New paper on "The Napoleon complex revisited: New evidence from professional soccer"

A study by Hendrik Sonnabend, Giulio Callegaro, and Mario Lackner titled "The Napoleon complex revisited: New evidence from professional soccer" was published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. The authors analyse evaluation biases caused by physical attributes. Using data from German elite soccer, it shows that referees are more inclined to sanction players when the difference in body size is sufficiently large. The authors also document an ‘inverse Napoleon effect’ in situations when the referee is confronted with smaller players, suggesting that sanctions are used as a substitute for authority gained by stature in the industry.

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