An econometric analysis demonstrates that television ratings for NBA games are substantially higher when certain players ('superstars') are involved. Thus, these superstars are quite important for generating revenue, not only for their own teams but for other teams as well. Using the econometric analysis and additional information on attendance and paraphernalia sales, the authors estimate the value of Michael Jordan to the other NBA teams to be approximately $53 million. The positive externality superstars have on other teams can lead to an inefficient distribution of player talent. The authors examine several league policies that might be used to address the externality.

Recent evidence indicates the value premium declined over time. We argue this decline happened because book equity, BE, is no longer a good proxy for fundamental equity, FE, defined as the present value of cash flows under a common discount rate across firms. Specifically, we estimate FE for public US firms over time and find that the premium associated with the fundamental-to-market ratio, FE/ME, subsumes the BE/ME premium and has been relatively stable while the cross-sectional correlation between FE/ME and BE/ME decreased over time, inducing an apparent decline in the value premium. We also show that FE/ME captures the value premium better than several alternative value signals beyond BE/ME.