A large literature has found positive associations between economic freedom and income, growth, and a variety of other desirable outcomes. This paper surveys the literature that seeks to explain the causes of economic freedom. Some of the most consistent findings in this literature are that...

Does a countrys level of inequality affect its ability to win Olympic medals? If it does, is it conditional on institutional factors? We argue that the ability of economically free societies to win medals will not be affected by inequality. In these societies, institutions generate incentives to...

This paper does three things. First, based on a limited number of theoretically established dimensions, it proposes a new de facto indicator for the rule of law. It is the first such indicator to take the quality of legal norms explicitly into account. Second, using this indicator we shed new...

This paper does three things. First, based on a limited number of theoretically established dimensions, it proposes a new de facto indicator for the rule of law. It is the first such indicator to take the quality of legal norms explicitly into account. Second, using this indicator we shed new...

Over the last couple of decades, it has become a commonplace to claim that institutions matterʺ for economic development. Yet, institutions are not exogenous but the result of hu-man action. It is argued here that the values and norms held by substantial parts of society’s members are an...

China and other East Asian countries were able to deal with the coronavirus pandemic much better than most Western countries. Both the number of infections and the mortality rate were lower than in Western countries by two orders of magnitude. Besides, economic recession associated with the...

Are policies pre-determined by political institutions? The recently passed economic partnership agreement between Japan and the Philippines (JPEPA) was fought fiercely between supporters such as the government, business and academe and the opposition composed of civil society, academe and other...

This paper examines the impact of trade liberalizations on government revenues. Using a new dataset on tax revenues for 130 countries between 1792 and 2006 we find that on average countries were able to recover the tax revenues lost by liberalizing trade by using other sources of revenue. There...

Economic freedom and economic growth can be connected in most countries, but it is often necessary to specify those aspects of economic freedom that can foster economic growth. This paper examines the nexus between economic freedom and economic growth in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)...

In this paper, I explore the politically contested association between the degree of capitalism, captured by measures of economic freedom, and the risk and characteristics of economic crisis. After offering some brief theoretical considerations, I estimate the effects of economic freedom on...