International sports events in a local political context - A study on local political decision-making regarding arrangements of international sports events in Sweden
Sammanfattning: The Swedish government wants to arrange more international sports events to strengthen Sweden's position as an attractive destination among the global audience. To arrange such an event in a Swedish municipality, in most cases the local politicians need to accept the arrangement in the municipal council. The purpose of the study was to empirically examine factors that can influence a local politician in the decision-making regarding arrangements of international sports event in the municipality. Two studies were conducted, one qualitative and one quantitative. The qualitative study aimed to identify stakeholder groups in the matter and determine their salience from the perspective of a local politician. The results revealed eight stakeholder groups where the destination companies and local sports associations possessed the highest degree of salience. Furthermore, the qualitative study aimed to provide an understanding of the context of arranging an international sports event and the dynamics preceding the decision. This understanding was used as basis for the quantitative study. The quantitative study aimed to explore factors influencing acceptance of decision, resource allocation, confidence in decision and perceived risk regarding the arrangement. The quantitative study tested factors that previously have been proven to influence decision-making in general: familiarity (experience and knowledge), affect (liking) and factors for evaluating effects (social, economic, environmental, image and tourism). Moreover, additional factors in terms of characteristics of the municipality and politician were explored. The findings reveal that politicians with greater knowledge of arranging sports events and/or have greater liking for sports are more inclined to accept the decision. Further, politicians with greater knowledge, liking or experience feel more confident in their decision. The perceived importance of the event's effect on the municipal image influences the acceptance of decision.
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