Dissertation proposal - Is Hosting the London 2012 Olympics a beneficial choice for the UK Economy?
by
kamhass (student)
288ACC Research Proposal Kamil Hassan (2592914)
Research Proposal
Kamil Hassan
Is Hosting the London 2012 Olympics a beneficial choice for the UK Economy?
The Olympics games is coming to London from 27th June (Opening ceremony) right up until 9th September (Paralympic games closing ceremony). Such a big event will bring a vast amount of sporting luxuries to the residents of England and especially London. The competitiveness, fellowship and support that Olympic Games boast will definitely light up the UK socially. But also economically the Olympic Games will bring a lot of positive and negative aspects. Although all you hear is positivity and how exciting the prospects of the UK hosting the games is and the amazing experience it will bring to the residents of the country, it will be interesting to investigate whether it will be economically efficient and the right choice for the UK to have taken. Furthermore it will be interesting to find out what benefits or problems will be left for the UK Economy after the Olympic Games have finished.
I have always been intrigued by sports and sporting events being a keen sportsman myself. But I have always concentrated on the sport itself, and never really considered all the secondary aspects such as Economic issues derived from sport and big sporting events. Therefore the Olympics was a perfect proposal for me to start an investigation into the issues that will affect the UK Economy. With the Olympic Games being held in my homeland I found this proposal more intriguing, as it would also give me the opportunity to further my research and insight by actually visiting the venues and being in and amongst the atmosphere of the Games. This will help back up my proposal through empirical evidence and firsthand experience. This project will explain whether the Olympic game was economically viable for the UK, but also address the UK about any Passover effects or benefits the Olympics will leave.
A lot of research has been carried out and presented through articles; a lot of the information I have found has been post previous Olympic Games. So the articles asses the Economic issues after the games have finished. This is helpful in indicating to me Economic areas that are affected and need to be considered, but in relation to London 2012 Olympic Games such articles are irrelevant as their will be different Economic problems or benefits a certain country will reap from the Games. This view is followed through the work of Preuss (2004) who mentions ‘comparing financial and Economic data from one Olympic Games to another is fraught with difficulty’. There is therefore very little information talking about all the different Economic aspects that need to be considered when staging games, a lot of the research already carried out on the London 2012 Olympic is concerning the usual Economic issues such as tourism, and health awareness the Games will bring to the hosting country. Also a lot of articles discuss talk a whether the UK would have enough capital to fund such a project, in the Economic downturn we are currently in. That is the extent of the research already done, a lot of articles have been written on these issues but they seem to be more opinionated rather than factual. Therefore a lot of normative statements to the Economic situations around the London 2012 Olympic Games can be seen.
