Finance:Economic Freedom of the World

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Economic Freedom of the World
AuthorsJames Gwartney, Robert A. Lawson, Joshua C. Hall, Ryan Murphy, Robbie Butler, John Considine, Hugo J. Faria, Rosemarie Fike, Fred McMahon, Hugo M. Montesinos-Yufa, Dean Stansel, Meg Tuszynski[1]
Cover artistHeather Jalbout[1]
CountryCanada[1]
LanguageEnglish, French, Spanish, Bosnian, German, Italian[1]
PublisherFraser Institute[1]
Publication date
2016[1]
ISBNISBN:978-0-88975-408-9 (2016 edition)
OCLC45197922
LC ClassHC10 .E3746 HB95E36[1]
Websitefreetheworld.com[1]

Economic Freedom of the World is an annual survey published by the Fraser Institute, a Canada think tank.[1] The survey attempts to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. It has been used in peer-reviewed studies, some of which have found a range of beneficial effects of more economic freedom.[2]

History

One of the earliest measures of economic freedom was developed by Freedom House, which has done extensive work on the measurement of political and cultural freedom. This measure incorporated a range of indicators including freedom to establish a business and freedom of union organisation.[3]

Partly in response to dissatisfaction with the Freedom House index from advocates of a libertarian or market liberal viewpoint, Milton Friedman and Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute hosted a series of conferences on economic freedom. Eventually this resulted in a report on worldwide economic freedom, Economic Freedom of the World. The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal later created another similar index, the Index of Economic Freedom.[4]

Method

The participants in the conferences reached a consensus that the cornerstones of economic freedom are: personal choice rather than collective choice, voluntary exchange coordinated by markets rather than allocation via the political process, freedom to enter and compete in markets, protection of persons and their property from aggression by others.[5] The 2005 report states "When the functions of the minimal state—protection of people and their property from the actions of aggressors, enforcement of contracts, and provision of the limited set of public goods like roads, flood control projects, and money of stable value—are performed well, but the government does little else, a country's rating on the EFW summary index will be high. Correspondingly, as government expenditures increase and regulations expand, a country's rating will decline."[5] In practice, the index measures: size of government (expenditures, taxes, and enterprises, legal structure), security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor, and business.[5] The report uses 42 distinct variables, from for example the World Bank, to measure this. Some examples: tax rates, degree of juridical independence, inflation rates, costs of importing, and regulated prices. Each of the 5 areas above is given equal weight in the final score.[5]

Research

Charts showing economic freedom, as defined in Economic Freedom of the World, and various other indicators. The red bars shows nations with less economic freedom, the green bars those with more.

Economic freedom has been shown to correlate strongly with higher average income per person, higher income of the poorest 10%, higher life expectancy, higher literacy, lower infant mortality, higher access to water sources and less corruption. The share of income in percent going to the poorest 10% is the same for both more and less economically free countries.[6]

The people living in the top one-fifth of the most free countries enjoy an average income of $23,450 and a growth rate in the 1990s of 2.56 percent per year; in contrast, the bottom one-fifth in the rankings had an average income of just $2,556 and a -0.85 percent growth rate in the 1990s. The poorest 10 percent of the population have an average income of just $728 in the least free countries compared with over $7,000 in the most free countries. The life expectancy of people living in the most free nations is 20 years longer than for people in the least free countries.[7]

Higher economic freedom, as measured by both The Heritage Foundation and Fraser Institute indices, correlates strongly with higher self-reported happiness[8] and is significant in preventing wars. Economic freedom is around 54 times more effective than democracy (as measured by Democracy Score) in diminishing violent conflict.[9]

Regarding environmental health, studies have found no or a positive effect. More important may be the Kuznets curve. Most environmental health indicators, such as water and air pollution show an inverted U-shape. Meaning in the beginning of economic development, little weight is given to environmental concerns, raising pollution along with industrialization. After a threshold, when basic physical needs are met and a middle class is established, interest in a clean environment rises, reversing the trend.[10]

Studies show that more economic freedom is the cause of beneficial effects and that Economic Freedom of the World was used for most of the research, partly because Index of Economic Freedom only goes back to 1995 and because it uses more subjective variables.[10]

Influence

Hundreds of peer-reviewed articles have used the index and it has been used in economic research, political science, and environmental research.[11] The Economic Freedom of the World index has been more widely used than any other measure of economic freedom, because of its coverage of a longer time period.[12] In 2016 the report was cited in 412 independent research journals.[13] In 2016 and 2017 Free Malaysia Today and National Review quoted the report.[14]

Criticisms

The correlation between economic freedom and growth has been criticized by studies. De Haan and Siermann find that the relationship is not robust.[15] Heckelman and Stroup argue that the weighting procedure used in the construction of the index is arbitrary.[16] They examine the components of the index individually and find that many—including a low top marginal tax rate—are negatively, rather than positively correlated with economic growth. A frequent criticism is that China , and other developing nations, have high growth rates but relatively low economic freedom. Developing nations can have higher growth rates than developed nations, as they have cheap labor and can import investment, technology and organizational skills from rich countries.

When examining the subcomponents of the index, any positive effect that a low level of taxes might have is more disputed than the importance of rule of law, lack of political corruption, low inflation, and functioning property rights. Many northern European nations such as Iceland (#23), Denmark (#13), Finland (#21) and Sweden (#35), have extensive welfare states, which are strongly opposed by advocates of laissez-faire. It is argued these countries have less regulation than most others, and research using the Ease of Doing Business Index suggests that the effect of business regulations is more important than government consumption.[17] The Global Competitiveness Report looks at several other factors that affect economic growth such as infrastructure, health, and education.

Although the World Bank does not believe that laissez-faire policies, if they allow large inequalities of wealth to develop, are an effective way to achieve this goal, it is a strong supporter of the importance of economic growth for reducing poverty. It argues that an overview of many studies shows that: growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not seem to affect inequality, growth accompanied by a more egalitarian distribution of wealth is better than growth alone, high initial income inequality is a brake on poverty reduction, poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction, and wealth inequality seems to predict lower future growth rates.[18] In 2011, the IMF Economic Review published an article that found countries with higher economic freedom and more liberal credit market regulation suffered more in output growth during the late-2000s financial crisis.[19] In 2014, a working paper published by the International Labour Organization said some of the methodology used in the Rigidity of Employment index sub-components, was not useful.[20]

2017 ratings in 2019 Annual Report

Map showing summary index scores of countries according to 2017 data from the 2019 Annual Report
  >8
  7.5–8
  7–7.5
  6.5–7
  6–6.5
  5.5–6
  5–5.5
  <5
  Data unavailable

Below are the ratings of countries for 2017, based on the 2019 Annual Report.[21] In 2017, Hong Kong and Singapore were in first and second place respectively; the next highest-scoring countries are New Zealand, Switzerland , United States , Ireland, United Kingdom , Canada , Australia and Mauritius. The lowest-scoring countries are Iraq, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Algeria, Sudan, Libya, and lastly, Venezuela.

Rank Country Summary index
1  Hong Kong 8.91
2  Singapore 8.71
3  New Zealand 8.50
4   Switzerland 8.40
5  United States 8.19
6  Ireland 8.13
7  United Kingdom 8.09
8  Canada 8.08
9  Australia 8.07
9  Mauritius 8.07
11  Malta 7.97
12  Georgia 7.94
13  Chile 7.89
13  Denmark 7.89
13  Estonia 7.89
16  Lithuania 7.88
17  Japan 7.86
17  Luxembourg 7.86
19  Taiwan 7.85
20  Germany 7.82
21  Finland 7.80
22  Czech Republic 7.75
23  Iceland 7.74
24  Latvia 7.73
25  Netherlands 7.72
26  Austria 7.71
27  Armenia 7.70
28  Cyprus 7.68
28  Romania 7.68
30  Albania 7.67
31  Panama 7.66
32  Norway 7.62
33  South Korea 7.59
34  Guatemala 7.57
35  Sweden 7.56
36  Spain 7.55
37  Bulgaria 7.54
38  Israel 7.53
39  Portugal 7.52
40  Belgium 7.51
40  Slovakia 7.51
42  Peru 7.49
43  Cambodia 7.44
43  Jordan 7.44
45  Mongolia 7.43
46  Costa Rica 7.41
46  Italy 7.41
48  Uganda 7.39
49  Botswana 7.37
50  Bahrain 7.35
50  France 7.35
52  Malaysia 7.34
53  Philippines 7.32
54  Hungary 7.27
54  Indonesia 7.27
56  Croatia 7.26
56  Rwanda 7.26
58  Bahamas 7.25
59  Poland 7.24
60  Gambia 7.23
61  Jamaica 7.17
61  United Arab Emirates 7.17
63  Cape Verde 7.16
63  El Salvador 7.16
65  Honduras 7.16
65  Seychelles 7.16
67  Slovenia 7.15
68  Kazakhstan 7.10
69  Qatar 7.07
70  Kenya 7.05
70  Uruguay 7.05
72  Paraguay 7.03
73  Macedonia 7.02
74  Nicaragua 7.01
75  Lebanon 6.97
76  Mexico 6.93
77  Dominican Republic 6.92
77  Kyrgyzstan 6.92
79  India 6.91
80  Serbia 6.89
81  Nigeria 6.86
81  Thailand 6.86
83  Montenegro 6.84
83  Zambia 6.84
85  Belize 6.78
85  Russia 6.78
87  Bhutan 6.77
87  Tanzania 6.77
89  Oman 6.76
90  Fiji 6.74
91  Trinidad and Tobago 6.70
92  Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.69
92  Morocco 6.69
94  Colombia 6.68
95  Laos 6.67
95  Turkey 6.67
97  Moldova 6.66
98  Suriname 6.65
99  Belarus 6.64
100  Brunei 6.62
101  South Africa 6.61
102  Greece 6.59
103  Ghana 6.58
104  Sri Lanka 6.57
105  Liberia 6.56
106  Namibia 6.53
107  Saudi Arabia 6.52
107  Swaziland 6.52
109  Lesotho 6.50
110  Haiti 6.49
110    Nepal 6.49
112  Barbados 6.45
113  China 6.42
114  Kuwait 6.41
115  Papua New Guinea 6.36
116  Azerbaijan 6.34
117  Guyana 6.32
118  Ecuador 6.28
119  Vietnam 6.27
120  Brazil 6.23
121  Togo 6.21
122  Tunisia 6.20
123  Bangladesh 6.18
124  Burundi 6.17
124  Senegal 6.17
126  Bolivia 6.14
126  Madagascar 6.14
128  Mauritania 6.11
129  Benin 6.08
130  Burkina Faso 6.07
131  Malawi 6.06
132  Tajikistan 6.05
133  East Timor 5.99
134  Ivory Coast 5.97
135  Ukraine 5.96
136  Mali 5.91
136  Pakistan 5.91
138  Gabon 5.88
139  Guinea 5.86
140  Cameroon 5.84
140  Yemen 5.84
142  Niger 5.83
143  Ethiopia 5.72
143  Iran 5.72
145  Zimbabwe 5.69
146  Argentina 5.67
147  Myanmar 5.63
148  Sierra Leone 5.63
149  Mozambique 5.60
150  Chad 5.42
151  Central African Republic 5.23
151  Guinea-Bissau 5.23
153  Iraq 5.21
154  Republic of the Congo 5.08
155  Egypt 5.05
155  Syria 5.05
157  Democratic Republic of the Congo 5.00
158  Angola 4.83
159  Algeria 4.77
160  Sudan 4.67
161  Libya 4.45
162  Venezuela 2.58

Past reports

Trend

The Economic Freedom of the World 2005 report stated that the world economic freedom score has grown considerably over the last few decades. By its measure, the average score has increased from 5.17 in 1985 to 6.4. Of the nations in 1985, 95 nations increased their score, seven saw a decline, and six were unchanged.[22]

2013 ratings in 2015 Annual Report

Economic Freedom Ratings for 2013,[23] including 157 countries and 119 positions which may be shared by two or more countries.

Rank Country Summary
index
Previous rank[24] Difference
1  Hong Kong 8.97 8.97 Steady 0
2  Singapore 8.52 8.73 Decrease 0.21
3  New Zealand 8.19 8.49 Decrease 0.30
4   Switzerland 8.16 8.30 Decrease 0.14
5  United Arab Emirates 8.15 8.07 Increase 0.08
6  Mauritius 8.08 8.01 Increase 0.07
7  Jordan 7.93 7.81 Increase 0.12
8  Ireland 7.90 7.66 Increase 0.24
9  Canada 7.89 7.93 Decrease 0.08
10  Chile 7.87 7.87 Steady 0
11  United Kingdom 7.87 7.85 Increase 0.02
12  Australia 7.83 7.88 Decrease 0.05
13  Georgia 7.83 7.61 Increase 0.22
14  Qatar 7.77 7.62 Increase 0.15
15  Taiwan 7.76 7.77 Decrease 0.01
16  United States 7.73 7.73 Steady 0
17  Romania 7.69 7.32 Increase 0.17
18  Armenia 7.67 7.62 Increase 0.05
19  Finland 7.61 7.98 Decrease 0.37
20  Lithuania 7.61 7.61 Steady 0
21  Malta 7.61 7.65 Decrease 0.04
22  Denmark 7.58 7.78 Decrease 0.20
23  Estonia 7.58 7.76 Decrease 0.18
24  Bahrain 7.55 7.93 Decrease 0.38
25  Costa Rica 7.53 7.11 Increase 0.42
26  Japan 7.52 7.50 Increase 0.02
27  Luxembourg 7.51 7.49 Increase 0.02
28  Norway 7.51 7.56 Decrease 0.05
29  Germany 7.50 7.68 Decrease 0.18
30  Netherlands 7.48 7.57 Decrease 0.09
31  Austria 7.46 7.59 Decrease 0.13
32  Kuwait 7.46 7.22 Increase 0.24
33  Guatemala 7.45 7.21 Increase 0.14
34  Rwanda 7.43 7.46 Decrease 0.03
35  Latvia 7.42 7.31 Increase 0.11
36  Portugal 7.42 7.34 Increase 0.09
37  Bahamas 7.40 7.40 Steady 0
38  Nicaragua 7.40 7.23 Increase 0.17
39  Israel 7.38 7.26 Increase 0.12
40  South Korea 7.38 7.50 Decrease 0.22
41  Peru 7.34 7.64 Decrease 0.30
42  Bulgaria 7.33 7.26 Increase 0.07
43  Czech Republic 7.33 7.25 Increase 0.18
44  Jamaica 7.33 7.12 Increase 0.21
45  Sweden 7.33 7.59 Decrease 0.16
46  Uganda 7.30 7.10 Increase 0.20
47  Poland 7.29 7.20 Increase 0.09
48  Slovakia 7.29 7.46 Decrease 0.17
49  Honduras 7.27 7.21 Increase 0.06
50  Panama 7.27 7.08 Increase 0.19
51  Spain 7.27 7.53 Decrease 0.26
52  Belgium 7.26 7.36 Decrease 0.10
53  Cambodia 7.26 7.02 Increase 0.24
54  Kazakhstan 7.26 6.84 Increase 0.42
55  El Salvador 7.25 7.03 Increase 0.22
56  Hungary 7.25 7.59 Decrease 0.34
57  Dominican Republic 7.23 7.13 Increase 0.10
58  Malaysia 7.22 7.06 Increase 0.16
59  Oman 7.21 7.31 Decrease 0.10
60  Macedonia 7.19 7.05 Increase 0.14
61  Mongolia 7.19 7.06 Increase 0.13
62  Albania 7.18 7.27 Decrease 0.09
63  Brunei 7.18 7.05 Increase 0.13
64  Montenegro 7.18 7.26 Decrease 0.08
65  Uruguay 7.18 7.35 Decrease 0.17
66  Kenya 7.16 6.81 Increase 0.35
67  Philippines 7.14 7.21 Decrease 0.07
68  Botswana 7.13 7.25 Decrease 0.12
69  Italy 7.13 6.85 Increase 0.28
70  France 7.12 7.38 Decrease 0.26
71  Gambia 7.12 6.98 Increase 0.14
72  Papua New Guinea 7.11 6.96 Increase 0.15
73  Seychelles 7.07 N/A -
74  Trinidad and Tobago 7.07 6.95 Increase 0.12
75  Cyprus 7.03 7.72 Decrease 0.69
76  Indonesia 7.01 6.90 Increase 0.11
77  Lebanon 7.01 7.41 Decrease 0.40
78  Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.98 6.67 Increase 0.25
79  Cape Verde 6.97 6.24 Increase 0.69
80  Zambia 6.97 7.10 Decrease 0.13
81  Saudi Arabia 6.95 7.14 Decrease 0.19
82  Tanzania 6.92 6.65 Increase 0.27
83  Turkey 6.92 7.06 Decrease 0.14
84  Croatia 6.91 7.01 Decrease 0.10
85  Greece 6.87 6.83 Increase 0.24
86  Iceland 6.87 7.37 Decrease 0.50
87  Bhutan 6.86 N/A -
88  Fiji 6.86 7.10 Decrease 0.14
89  Paraguay 6.85 6.78 Increase 0.07
90  Barbados 6.83 6.96 Decrease 0.13
91  Haiti 6.83 6.56 Increase 0.33
92  Tajikistan 6.81 6.01 Increase 0.80
93  Mexico 6.79 6.64 Increase 0.15
94  Swaziland 6.79 6.56 Increase 0.23
95  Suriname 6.77 6.29 Increase 0.48
96  South Africa 6.74 6.80 Decrease 0.06
97  Kyrgyzstan 6.73 6.51 Increase 0.22
98  Madagascar 6.71 6.37 Increase 0.34
99  Russia 6.69 6.55 Increase 0.14
100  Namibia 6.68 6.39 Increase 0.38
101  Serbia 6.65 6.46 Increase 0.19
102  Belize 6.64 6.82 Decrease 0.18
103  Moldova 6.63 6.86 Decrease 0.23
104  Thailand 6.63 6.64 Decrease 0.01
105  Sri Lanka 6.57 6.66 Decrease 0.09
106  Colombia 6.56 6.61 Decrease 0.05
107    Nepal 6.56 6.19 Increase 0.36
108  Bolivia 6.52 6.36 Increase 0.16
109  Morocco 6.46 6.56 Decrease 0.10
110  Vietnam 6.46 6.23 Increase 0.23
111  China 6.44 6.22 Increase 0.22
112  Nigeria 6.44 6.21 Increase 0.23
113  Slovenia 6.44 6.59 Decrease 0.15
114  India 6.43 6.34 Increase 0.09
115  Bangladesh 6.42 6.33 Increase 0.09
116  Tunisia 6.39 6.87 Decrease 0.52
117  Lesotho 6.36 6.35 Increase 0.01
118  Azerbaijan 6.34 6.30 Increase 0.34
119  Brazil 6.34 6.51 Decrease 0.17
120  Cameroon 6.34 5.94 Increase 0.40
121  Egypt 6.34 6.36 Decrease 0.02
122  Senegal 6.32 5.97 Increase 0.35
123  Mali 6.29 5.95 Increase 0.74
124  Guyana 6.28 6.34 Decrease 0.06
125  Pakistan 6.28 6.34 Decrease 0.06
126  Yemen 6.28 6.31 Decrease 0.03
127  Timor-Leste 6.27 6.30 Decrease 0.03
128  Ghana 6.20 6.71 Decrease 0.51
129  Ukraine 6.20 6.16 Increase 0.04
130  Guinea-Bissau 6.12 5.68 Increase 0.44
131  Burkina Faso 6.10 5.94 Increase 0.16
132  Sierra Leone 6.08 6.32 Decrease 0.24
133  Benin 6.05 5.95 Increase 0.10
134  Ivory Coast 6.03 5.76 Increase 0.37
135  Ecuador 5.99 5.85 Increase 0.14
136  Malawi 5.87 6.30 Decrease 0.43
137  Mozambique 5.87 5.63 Increase 0.24
138  Burundi 5.85 5.26 Increase 0.59
139  Mauritania 5.79 6.42 Decrease 0.63
140  Niger 5.79 5.60 Increase 0.19
141  Gabon 5.72 5.73 Decrease 0.01
142  Togo 5.71 5.57 Increase 0.14
143  Ethiopia 5.68 5.47 Increase 0.21
144  Belgian Congo 5.65 5.28 Increase 0.37
145  Guinea 5.62 N/A -
146  Myanmar 5.56 4.08 Increase 1.48
147  Iran 5.43 6.05 Decrease 0.22
148  Angola 5.37 5.17 Increase 0.20
149  Zimbabwe 5.33 4.59 Increase 0.34
150  Central African Republic 5.29 5.26 Increase 0.03
151  Algeria 5.20 5.32 Decrease 0.12
152  Argentina 5.20 5.69 Decrease 0.49
153  Syria 5.19 N/A -
154  Chad 5.13 4.98 Increase 0.15
155  Libya 5.11 N/A -
156  Republic of the Congo 4.72 4.57 Increase 0.15
157  Venezuela 3.23 3.93 Decrease 0.70

Related indices

A related index for Chinese provinces is followed by both Chinese scholars and policy makers. There is also a network of institutions in 59 different nations that use the index to promote free market ideas.[25]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Gwartney, James; Lawson, Robert A.; Hall, Joshua C.; Murphy, Ryan; Butler, Robbie; Considine, John; Faria, Hugo J.; Fike, Rosemarie et al. (Sep 15, 2016). Economic Freedom of the World: 2016 Annual Report. Fraser Institute. ISBN 978-0-88975-408-9. OCLC 45197922. http://freetheworld.com. ; ISSN 1482-471X; OCLC 773250104
  2. "Published Work Using Economic Freedom of the World Research". http://www.freetheworld.com/papers.html. 
  3. "Cuba After Fidel – What Next?". Voice of America. October 31, 2009. http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-fidel2006-08-03-voa38/399709.html. 
  4. "Moroccan Liberalization Making Progress". Financial Tribune Daily. April 30, 2017. https://financialtribune.com/articles/world-economy/63362/moroccan-liberalization-making-progress. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dolan, Ed (April 27, 2017). "Quality of Government, Not Size, Is the Key to Freedom and Prosperity". Niskanen Center. https://niskanencenter.org/blog/quality-government-not-size-key-freedom-prosperity/. 
  6. Economic Freedom of the World: 2004 Annual Report. 2004. http://www.freetheworld.com/2004/efw2004ch1.pdf. 
  7. Lawson, Robert A. (July 1, 2002). "Economic Freedom Needed To Alleviate Poverty". http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/article/318. 
  8. In Pursuit of Happiness Research. Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy? The Cato institute. April 11, 2007
  9. Chapter2: Economic Freedom and Peace , Economic Freedom of the World 2005
  10. 10.0 10.1 Berggren, Niclas (April 2006). The Benefits of Economic Freedom: A Survey. The Ratio Institute. http://www.ratioinstitutet.nu/pdf/wp/nb_efi.pdf. 
  11. Hundreds of peer-reviewed articles: Template:Hanging indentTemplate:Hanging indent
  12. Dawson, John W. (May 2007). "The Empirical Institution-Growth Literature: Is Something Amiss at the Top?". Econ Journal Watch 4 (2): 184–96. http://econjwatch.org/issues/volume-4-number-1-may-2007. 
  13. "Citations in 2016 Professional Literature of the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom Research". Fraser Institute. pp. 1–36. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/economic-freedom-research-professional-citations-2016.pdf. 
  14. See:Template:Hanging indentTemplate:Hanging indent
  15. Further Evidence on the Relationship Between Economic Freedom and Economic Growth, Public Choice. 95: 363–80.
  16. Jac C. Heckelman, Michael D. Stroup (2000), 'Which Economic Freedoms Contribute to Growth?', Kyklos, 53(4), 527–44.
  17. "Knowledge Resources". World Bank. http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/resources.aspx?id=6923. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  18. "The Poverty-Growth-Inequality Link". World Bank. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPGI/0,,contentMDK:20263370~menuPK:342777~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:342771,00.html. 
  19. Giannone, Domenico; Lenza, Michele; Reichlin, Lucrezia (2011). "Market Freedom and the Global Recession". IMF Economic Review 59 (1): 111–135. doi:10.1057/imfer.2010.14. 
  20. Aleksynska, Mariya; Cazes, Sandrine (2014). "Comparing indicators of labour market regulations across databases: A post scriptum to the employing workers debate". Geneva. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_245349.pdf. "This paper offers a critical overview of labour market regulations' indicators developed by the World Economic Forum, the IMD, and the Fraser Institute. [Abstract]" 
  21. "2019 ANNUAL REPORT: Economic Freedom of the World". https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/economic-freedom-of-the-world-2019.pdf. 
  22. Huntington, Donald M. (May 18, 2009). Advanced Seminar in Business. William Jewell College. 
  23. "Economic Freedom of the World 2015". http://www.freetheworld.com/2015/economic-freedom-of-the-world-2015.pdf. 
  24. 2011 report published in 2013: Economic Freedom of the World in 2011
  25. Gwartney, James D.; Lawson, Robert A. (September 18, 2003). The Impact of the Economic Freedom of the World Index. Mont Pelerin Society. http://www.freetheworld.com/2003/impact-efw.pdf.