Nationality Effects on the Allocation of Playing Time in the Chinese Basketball Association: Xenophilia or Xenophobia?

This paper uses 2011–2019 data from the Chinese Basketball Association to assess the determinants of playing time with a focus on the effects of players’ national origin. Playing time is explained by an array of standard performance variables as well as each player's characteristics (such as age, height, and weight). Controlling for these factors, we test for whether there is any evidence of preferential treatment for foreign players over Chinese players. Our findings, using both a fixed effects model and the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition approach, offer consistent support for discrimination in favor of U.S. players and other foreign nationals. Intriguingly, Chinese coaches discriminate against Chinese players even more than non-Chinese coaches. We argue that foreign players draw attendance and hence receive more playing time than is justified by their performance alone.