2022-09-24-菲沙研究所-世界经济自由度2022年度报告（英文版）_245页_2mb

2022 Annual Report: Economic Freedom of the World

Core Content

The Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) annual report is a comprehensive assessment of economic freedom across 165 jurisdictions, using 42 distinct variables to measure the extent to which countries' institutions and policies support economic freedom. The report highlights the importance of economic freedom in fostering prosperity, growth, and well-being, and introduces a Gender Legal Rights Adjustment to account for disparities in legal treatment between men and women.

Main Areas of Economic Freedom

The EFW index is structured around five broad areas:

1. Size of Government

   • Measures government spending, taxation, and state ownership of assets.
   • Countries with lower government spending, lower marginal tax rates, and less state ownership tend to score higher in this area.

2. Legal System and Property Rights

   • Focuses on the rule of law, protection of property rights, and the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
   • Includes components such as judicial independence, legal enforcement of contracts, and police reliability.
   • A Gender Legal Rights Adjustment is applied to reflect differences in legal rights based on gender.

3. Sound Money

   • Emphasizes macroeconomic price stability and the predictability of money.
   • Components include money growth, inflation rates, and freedom to own foreign currency bank accounts.

4. Freedom to Trade Internationally

   • Measures trade barriers, tariffs, and exchange rate controls.
   • Countries with low tariffs, efficient customs clearance, and freely convertible currencies score higher.

5. Regulation

   • Assesses regulations that limit market entry, credit access, labor mobility, and business operations.
   • Includes components such as credit market regulations, labor market regulations, and business licensing requirements.

Key Findings from 2020

• Top-Rated Countries: Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Australia, United States, Estonia, Mauritius, and Ireland.
• Major Country Rankings:
  • Japan: 12th
  • Germany: 25th
  • Italy: 44th
  • France: 54th
  • Mexico: 64th
  • India: 89th
  • Russia: 94th
  • Brazil: 114th
  • China: 116th
• Lowest-Rated Countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Iran, Libya, Argentina, Syria, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Venezuela.

Economic Freedom and Well-Being

• Nations in the top quartile of economic freedom had an average per-capita GDP of $48,251, compared to $6,542 in the bottom quartile.
• The poorest 10% in the top quartile had an average income of $14,204, while in the bottom quartile it was $1,736.
• Extreme poverty rates were 2.02% in the top quartile versus 31.45% in the bottom quartile.
• Life expectancy was 80.4 years in the top quartile compared to 66.0 years in the bottom quartile.

Economic Freedom Trends

• The global average EFW rating decreased slightly from 7.00 in 2019 to 6.84 in 2020.
• This decline is attributed to policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic, including increased government spending, travel restrictions, and regulatory mandates.
• Despite the decline, economic freedom has generally increased since 2000, with the global average rising from 6.59 to 6.84.

Methodological Notes

• The EFW index is based on objective data sources, with some components incorporating survey data and expert panels.
• The data are sourced from external institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and World Economic Forum.
• The EFW Panel Dataset is constructed using the chain-linking method, with the base year updated to 2020 for this report.
• The report acknowledges that the five areas are interrelated, much like the components of a car, and thus the index does not assign specific weights to individual components.

Additional Information

• The report includes detailed historical data for each of the 165 jurisdictions from 1980 to 2020.
• Chapter 3 examines over 1,300 peer-reviewed articles on economic freedom, finding that most link economic freedom with improved well-being and prosperity.
• Chapter 4 discusses the potential for an independent academic institution to continue the Doing Business project, which was discontinued by the World Bank.
• The full dataset is freely available for researchers at <www.fraserinstitute.org/economic-freedom/dataset>.
• Users are encouraged to use the most recent data file for accuracy and to consider alternative weighting schemes if desired.

Citing the Report

• Report: James Gwartney, Robert Lawson, Joshua Hall, and Ryan Murphy (2022). Economic Freedom of the World: 2022 Annual Report. Fraser Institute.
• Data: James Gwartney, Robert Lawson, Joshua Hall, and Ryan Murphy (2022). Economic Freedom Dataset, published in Economic Freedom of the World: 2022 Annual Report. Fraser Institute.

Conclusion

The EFW index provides a valuable tool for understanding the relationship between economic freedom and national outcomes. It emphasizes the importance of institutional and policy environments that support personal choice, property rights, and market coordination. The 2022 report highlights the challenges posed by the pandemic and the need for continued research and policy reform to enhance economic freedom.