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This study examines the role of regional government quality in health-related participation in sport and physical activity among adults (18–64 years) in 28 European countries. The importance of the analysis rests in the relative autonomy that regional and local governments have over policy decisions connected with sport and physical activity. While existing studies have focussed on economic and infrastructural investment and expenditure, this research investigates the quality of regional governments across 208 regions within 28 European countries. The individual-level data stem from the 2013 Eurobarometer 80.2 (n = 18,675) and were combined with regional-level data from Eurostat. An individual's level of participation in sport and physical activity was measured by three variables reflecting whether an individual's activity level is below, meets, or exceeds the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The results of multi-level analyses reveal that regional government quality has a significant and positive association with individual participation in sport and physical activity at a level meeting or exceeding the guidelines. The impact is much larger than that of regional gross domestic product per capita, indicating that regional disadvantage in terms of political quality is more relevant than being disadvantaged in terms of economic wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Eurobarometer data from 2009 (N = 26,788), this paper investigates the correlates of sports participation. In addition to examining standard socio-demographic, economic and lifestyle factors, the paper also focuses on the impact of motivational factors, the availability of sports infrastructure and government support, for the first time collectively at the European level. A further contribution of the paper is that it simultaneously investigates both the decision to participate in sport and the frequency of sports participation in this context. This is made possible through the application of a Zero-Inflated Ordered Probit estimator. This estimator also takes into account two types of non-participants: those who have never participated in sport and those who did not participate at the time of the survey. The results show that the decision to participate in sports and the frequency of sports participation of males and females are affected by different factors, therefore distinct government policies should be applied to attract new, and retain the existing, participants. For example, women are affected more by a need to improve self-esteem, while the men to produce social integration. The provision of sports facilities is of more importance for males, which may indicate a male-oriented nature of the sports facilities, for example, the gym. However, the number of adults and the number of children in the household reduce the probability of sports participation by females. Therefore, higher provision of childcare may be important if female participation is to be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]