Economic Freedom of the World, 2002

The Independent Review, 2005

28 Pages Posted: 10 Apr 2015

See all articles by James D. Gwartney

James D. Gwartney

Florida State University - Department of Economics

Robert A. Lawson

Capital University - Department of Economics

J. R. Clark

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Date Written: 2005

Abstract

The Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) annual reports have presented an economic freedom index for a large set of nations around the world. This index is designed to measure the degree to which a nation’s policies and institutions protect its citizens’ economic freedom. In this article, we explain the basic methodology employed in constructing the index and summarize the study’s findings. Many factors influence the degree of economic freedom. Although no single statistic can capture all of them and their interrelations fully, the index presented here captures most of the important elements and provides a reasonably good measure of cross-country differences in economic freedom. The identification of these differences has been useful for researchers interested in the relationship between economic freedom and other economic variables such as income, economic growth, income equity, and environmental quality. To date, dozens of scholarly articles and hundreds of policy and journalistic reports have made use of the index.

Suggested Citation

Gwartney, James D. and Lawson, Robert A. and Clark, Jeff R., Economic Freedom of the World, 2002 (2005). The Independent Review, 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2562401

James D. Gwartney

Florida State University - Department of Economics ( email )

Tallahassee, FL 30306-2180
United States

Robert A. Lawson

Capital University - Department of Economics ( email )

303 E. Broad St.
Columbus, OH 43215-3200
United States
614-236-6138 (Phone)
614-236-6540 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://capital2.capital.edu/faculty/rlawson/

Jeff R. Clark (Contact Author)

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ( email )

Department of Economics
Suite 313 Fletcher Hall
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598
United States

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