Corruption in general and doping in particular are ubiquitous in both ama-

teur and professional sports and have taken the character of a systemic threat. In

creating unfair advantages, doping distorts the level playing field in sporting com-

petition. With higher stakes involved, such distortions create negative externalities

not only on the individual level (e.g. lasting health damages) but also frictions on

the aggregate level (e.g. loss of media interest) and erode the principle of sports.

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature overview of the individual

drivers to dope, the concomitant detrimental effects and respective countermeasures. In explaining the athletes motivation to use performance enhancing drugs,

we enrich the discussion by adapting insights from behavioral economics. These

insights help to understand such an athletes decision beyond a clear-cut rationale

but rather as a product of the interaction with the underlying environment. We

stress that in order to ensure clean sports and fair competition, more sophisticated

measurement methods have to be evolved and the respective data made publicly

available in order to facilitate more extensive studies in the future. So far, the lack

of data is alarming, especially in the area of elite sports where the stakes are high

and doping has a substantial influence.