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Fall 2016

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 31, Number 3

Categories: Fall 2016 | Freedom

A Comment on "Measuring Economic Freedom: A Comparison of Two Major Sources"

Ryan H. Murphy, Southern Methodist University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise31(3),2016,69–91ACommenton“MeasuringEconomicFreedom:AComparisonofTwoMajorSources”RyanH.MurphySouthernMethodistUniversity______________________________________________________AbstractDosocialscientistshavethetoolstomeasuretheeffectsoffreeeconomicinstitutions?Ram(2014)raisesconcernsregardingthereliabilityofthetwomajorsourcesthatmeasureeconomicfreedom.Thiscommentshowsthatthereislittlereasontobeanymorealarmedaboutourabilitytomeasureeconomicfreedomthanaboutourabilitytomeasureotheraspectsofinstitutionalquality,suchasdemocracy.______________________________________________________JELCodes:O11,O47,P51Keywords:economicfreedom,FraserInstitute,HeritageFoundation,humandevelopmentI.IntroductionDoeseconomicfreedomenhanceordiminishhumanwell-being?Economistsdisagreeaboutwhethergovernmentsshouldinterveneineconomiestotax,subsidize,redistribute,andregulate.Ourabilitytoempiricallytesttheoverallimpactofeconomicfreedomonoutcomesassociatedwithwell-beingisessentialforresolvingthisdisagreement.Butmeasuresofeconomicfreedommustbetrustworthyfortheseteststobeusefulandpersuasive.Ram(2014)findsevidencethatthetwomajorindexesmeasuringeconomicfreedom,theFraserInstitute’sEconomicFreedomoftheWorldAnnualReport(Gwartney,Lawson,andHall2013)andtheHeritageFoundation’sIndexofEconomicFreedom(Miller,Holmes,andKim2014),areunreliable.Hedemonstratesthatthetwoindexesdivergeinseveralcountries.RamalsoshowsthatthefreedomindexesdivergewhenusedtoexplaintheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme’sHumanDevelopmentIndex(HDI).TheFraserandHeritageindexesareasubgenreofindexesmeasuringinstitutionalqualityacrosscountries.Theseindexesaremorecloselycorrelatedtoeachotherthantheyaretoindexeswithotherdefinitionsofinstitutionalquality.Infact,theyaremorecloselyrelatedtooneanotherthanarethetwoindexesmeasuringfree

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Title	A Comment on "Measuring Economic Freedom: A Comparison of Two Major Sources"
Authors/Creators:	Ryan H. Murphy, Southern Methodist University
Year:	2016
Volume:	31
Number:	3
Pages:	69 - 91
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	economic freedom, Fraser Institute, Heritage Foundation, human development

Citation:
Murphy, Ryan H. / 2016. "A Comment on "Measuring Economic Freedom: A Comparison of Two Major Sources"." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 31(3): 69-91.