We conduct an innovative analysis of sporting world records by a) using economic instead of sporting determinants and b) by using multivariate stochastic frontier functions. Using data from 48 different disciplines between 1970 and 2014, we show that world records are close to full efficiency and therefore actual athletic frontiers. Forecasts including economic determinants imply that the dynamics of world records largely depend on the dynamics of the frontiers and their driving forces, i.e., socio-economic developments.
We conduct an innovative analysis of sporting world records by a) using economic instead of sporting determinants and b) by using multivariate stochastic frontier functions. Using data from 48 different disciplines between 1970 and 2014, we show that world records are close to full efficiency and therefore actual athletic frontiers. Forecasts including economic determinants imply that the dynamics of world records largely depend on the dynamics of the frontiers and their driving forces, i.e., socio-economic developments.