Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2015
College/Unit
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Document Number
15-12
Department/Program/Center
Economics
Abstract
We provide the first ranking of countries’ economic institutions using an ordinal methodology. Using the five areas of the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) Index, we find that final rankings of a country’s institutions are sensitive to the importance-ordering of Area 1 (Size of Government). When Areas 2-5 are in the most important position, we find that there is no significant difference between the EFW rankings and our rankings. When Area 1 is placed in the most important position, however, a number of European countries with large welfare states but good governance do poorly.
Digital Commons Citation
Beaulier, Scott; Elder, Robert; Han, Cheryl; and Hall, Joshua C., "An Ordinal Ranking of Economic Institutions" (2015). Economics Faculty Working Papers Series. 145.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/econ_working-papers/145