The Olympic Games Economy

August 8th 2008, when our Chinese friends are in a state of immense exhilaration on a peculiar occasion of holding the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing the capital of China. I would like to comment on these games and it's socio-economic impact on chinese society.The substance below is the extraction of some of my research results and university study experience in Beijing.

The Olympic Games impingement on Chinese economic development is of a “demand impact” type. The Olympic Games economic impact could be seen mainly through revenue and disbursement, investment and output streams. In this case, cost to hold Olympic Games' is actually an economical investment. As per marginal costs phenomenon, the bigger the investment is; the economic growth impact it brings would be bigger too. 

According to China’s economic growth analysis, Beijing Olympic Games contributed      3-5% for the country’s GDP growth. And because of the Olympic Games’ enormous sports characteristics and the cultural connotation; the preparation time was longer than usual, which acquired a huge investment, and massive participation of government and semi government organizations. That is the reason why Beijing Olympic Games' influence and total impact had already surpassed any other social or cultural event with economic benefits in our global arena.

If we look back, after1984, any host country for Olympic Games had to take steps in realizing the Olympic dream with massive funding and spending to meet the IOC demands. As the statistics are revealed, the Olympic Games offices, sports complexes and facilities are costing little more than ten hundred million USD to 10,000,000,000 USD of capital. This number can very easily make you think that the Olympic Games are a multiplex comprehensive phenomenon for an economic development, and it also highlights its importance and foresightedness in the international development.

From macroeconomics explanation of the Olympic Games' economic impact, Olympic Games initiate demand for infrastructural investment, traveling exports, multimedia exports, commercial and trade revolution, mass production, and employment opportunities with a direct and multiplier effect influence.

From another end, if we analyze the Olympic Games' source of revenue, the IOC carries an immense proportion of funding on to host city's subsidization for holding the games within the given time frame; moreover the committee has remarkably flexible options for an increase in this revenue proportion for the host country, lucky beijingers would apparently be having fingers-in-till while spending over Olympics.

Drawing from the Olympic Games experience of cities such as Los Angeles, Montreal and Barcelona, by holding 2008 Olympic Games, china would not only be in a much better shape of avoiding stumpers that occurred in the past but it would also be helpful in increasing revenue, reducing disbursement and expanding the games influence to incarnate sustainable social and economical development 

On the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, statistics department of the Central Government in Beijing used the term “Olympic Games Economy”, and declared that it would give a hike not only to Beijing’s economical situation but also the nearby economic sectors such as Tianjin, it’s predicted that this region’s growth proportion is to reach 1.23%.

We can look at the games' employemnt impact in this way, The Australian Finance bureau report says, in 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the demand for the labor force was huge. Synthetically, in China's situation, present unemployment is a structural unemployment, and according to Beijing government, the Olympic Games economic wave will bring the employment opportunities to a new peak, to achieve this target, Olympic Games Committee has designed to carry out the correspondence education and training to enhance human capital and strengthen competitive skills. A report says this unemployment cut-down measure will create 2,100,000 employment opportunities for the country.

According to Beijing Olympic Games report, in 2008 fiscal budget, Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee budget credit is 1,609,000,000 USD, and the budgetary revenue is 1,625,000,000 USD, the disbursement for the projects will be including environmental protection, roads and railway communication and airport construction expenses, which in total makes up an amount of 12,385,000,000 USD; if we add up other projects including the sports complexes and the Olympic Village, the number would be 1,871,000,000 USD. Recently, the State Statistical Bureau spokesperson pointed out that only Beijing's Olympic Games investment mounted to 40,000,000,000 USD, 64% of which is used in the infrastructure.

A recent analysis report forecasts that Beijing Olympic Games will boost china's economic growth to another 2%. The technical factor is that, Olympic Games will refine and improve china's fundamental resources, and it will improve the production process for an even more intensified use in country’s economic development, an estimate is that this kind of improvement or increase will fuel the economic growth engine till the year 2015.