ABSTRACT
One of the criticisms sometimes levelled at relatively young subject areas such as Event Studies is that they suffer from a lack of theory which in turn limits their ability to make major contributions to the development of knowledge. This criticism has been particularly strong with respect to the management of large-scale hallmark or mega-events (Grün 2004), where the perceived lack of theory is similar to that which surrounds the management of many large projects. Furthermore, there is a significant ‘performance paradox’ with many events that may have substantial long-term effects on regional and national economies given the sheer economic size of mega-events (Hall 2010):
At the same time as many more and much larger infrastructure projects are being proposed and built around the world, it is becoming clear that many such projects have strikingly poor performance records in terms of economy, environment and public support.
