Identifying the ‘deep roots’ of economic freedom with implications for policy and economic reform
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Department/School
Economics
Publication Title
Journal of Policy Making
Abstract
Because of the importance of economic freedom for a country’s prosperity and growth, subsequent studies now try to uncover which factors explain the cross-country differences in economic freedom. Based upon Lawson, Murphy, and Powell’s (2020) recent literature review we provide the first empirical examination of the relative importance of all 18 of the key “deep root” factors they identify across the published literature. We employ a Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach that is ideally suited for model identification and provides a statistical means to rank the importance of these deep root factors. Our results suggest that (in order of importance) latitude, exitability as measured by a country’s shape and coastal access, genetic distance, religion, and French legal origins are the most important of the deep root determinants of economic freedom. Policy implications of our findings are also discussed.
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Saunoris, J. W., Payne, J. E., & Sobel, R. S. (2025). Identifying the ‘deep roots’ of economic freedom with implications for policy and economic reform. Journal of Policy Modeling, 47(1), 211–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2024.09.002
Comments
J. W. Saunoris is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Economics.