IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v45y2016isp39-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Give me liberty and give me control: Economic freedom, control perceptions and the paradox of choice

Author

Listed:
  • Nikolaev, Boris
  • Bennett, Daniel L.

Abstract

We explore the relationship between individual control perceptions and the degree to which a country's institutions and policies are consistent with the principles of economic freedom. Using data from the World Values Surveys (WVS) and the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index, we find that people living in more economically free countries are more likely to perceive greater control over their lives. This effect is not diminishing at higher levels of economic freedom. One possible channel that explains this relationship is the perception of procedural fairness and social mobility. Decomposing the EFW index, we further find that the area of sound money is what drives the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolaev, Boris & Bennett, Daniel L., 2016. "Give me liberty and give me control: Economic freedom, control perceptions and the paradox of choice," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 39-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:45:y:2016:i:s:p:39-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2015.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268016300611
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2015.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Horst Feldmann, 2007. "Economic Freedom and Unemployment around the World," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(1), pages 158-176, July.
    2. Dawson, John W., 2003. "Causality in the freedom-growth relationship," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 479-495, September.
    3. Jakob De Haan & Susanna Lundström & Jan‐Egbert Sturm, 2006. "Market‐oriented institutions and policies and economic growth: A critical survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 157-191, April.
    4. Corneo, Giacomo & Gruner, Hans Peter, 2002. "Individual preferences for political redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 83-107, January.
    5. Marco Caliendo & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Arne Uhlendorff, 2015. "Locus of Control and Job Search Strategies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(1), pages 88-103, March.
    6. James D. Gwartney & Joseph S. Connors, 2010. "Economic Freedom and Global Poverty," Perspectives from Social Economics, in: Mark D. White (ed.), Accepting the Invisible Hand, chapter 0, pages 43-68, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Niclas Berggren & Henrik Jordahl, 2006. "Free to Trust: Economic Freedom and Social Capital," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 141-169, May.
    8. Bjørnskov, Christian & Dreher, Axel & Fischer, Justina A.V. & Schnellenbach, Jan & Gehring, Kai, 2013. "Inequality and happiness: When perceived social mobility and economic reality do not match," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 75-92.
    9. repec:wvu:wpaper:10-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Carlsson, Fredrik & Lundstrom, Susanna, 2002. "Economic Freedom and Growth: Decomposing the Effects," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 112(3-4), pages 335-344, September.
    11. Bruno Frey & Matthias Benz & Alois Stutzer, 2004. "Introducing Procedural Utility: Not Only What, but Also How Matters," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 160(3), pages 377-401, September.
    12. James D. Gwartney & Randall G. Holcombe & Robert A. Lawson, 2006. "Institutions and the Impact of Investment on Growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 255-273, May.
    13. Alesina, Alberto & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2005. "Preferences for redistribution in the land of opportunities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 897-931, June.
    14. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2013. "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 177-207, May.
    15. Joshua C. Hall & Robert A. Lawson, 2014. "Economic Freedom Of The World: An Accounting Of The Literature," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 1-19, January.
    16. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Sinning, Mathias G., 2016. "Locus of control and savings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 113-130.
    17. Easterlin, Richard A. & Angelescu, Laura & Zweig, Jacqueline S., 2011. "The Impact of Modern Economic Growth on Urban–Rural Differences in Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2187-2198.
    18. Verme, Paolo, 2009. "Happiness, freedom and control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 146-161, August.
    19. Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2014. "Free to Choose? Economic Freedom, Relative Income, and Life Control Perceptions," WIFO Working Papers 482, WIFO.
    20. Bjørnskov, Christian, 2015. "Does economic freedom really kill? On the association between ‘Neoliberal’ policies and homicide rates," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 207-219.
    21. Moulton, Brent R., 1986. "Random group effects and the precision of regression estimates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 385-397, August.
    22. Lorenz Blume & Stefan Voigt, 2007. "The Economic Effects of Human Rights," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 509-538, November.
    23. White, Halbert, 1980. "Using Least Squares to Approximate Unknown Regression Functions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 21(1), pages 149-170, February.
    24. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2014. "Healthy habits: The connection between diet, exercise, and locus of control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-28.
    25. Joshua C. Hall & Russell S. Sobel & George R. Crowley, 2010. "Institutions, Capital, and Growth," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 77(2), pages 385-405, October.
    26. Lauren R. Heller & E. Frank Stephenson, 2014. "Economic Freedom And Labor Market Conditions: Evidence From The States," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 56-66, January.
    27. Hugo Faria & Hugo Montesinos, 2009. "Does economic freedom cause prosperity? An IV approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 103-127, October.
    28. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    29. repec:zbw:rwirep:0455 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    31. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    32. Patrick Royston & Douglas G. Altman, 1994. "Regression Using Fractional Polynomials of Continuous Covariates: Parsimonious Parametric Modelling," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 43(3), pages 429-453, September.
    33. Dawson, John W, 1998. "Institutions, Investment, and Growth: New Cross-Country and Panel Data Evidence," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(4), pages 603-619, October.
    34. Boris Nikolaev, 2014. "Economic Freedom and Quality of Life: Evidence from the OECD’s Your Better Life Index," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 29(Fall 2014), pages 61-96.
    35. Kenneth Doyle & Seounmi Youn, 2000. "Exploring the Traits of Happy People," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 195-209, November.
    36. Indra de Soysa & Hanne Fjelde, 2010. "Is the hidden hand an iron fist? Capitalism and civil peace, 1970-2005," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 47(3), pages 287-298, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel L. Bennett & Boris Nikolaev, 2017. "Economic Freedom & Happiness Inequality: Friends Or Foes?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 373-391, April.
    2. Olalekan Charles Okunlola & Anthony E. Akinlo, 2021. "Does economic freedom enhance quality of life in Africa?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 68(3), pages 357-387, September.
    3. Elchin Suleymanov & Elvin Alirzayev & Mammad Talibli, 2019. "Role of Economic Freedom in Attracting Investments in the Context of Azerbaijan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 87-95.
    4. Olalekan C. Okunlola & Olumide A. Ayetigbo & Sam O. Ajiye, 2022. "Does a free market system reduce conflict in Africa?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(1), pages 147-170, June.
    5. Milena Nikolova & Boris Nikolaev, 2017. "Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1593-1623, December.
    6. Bennett, Daniel L. & Faria, Hugo J. & Gwartney, James D. & Morales, Daniel R., 2017. "Economic Institutions and Comparative Economic Development: A Post-Colonial Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 503-519.
    7. Judit Kapás & Pál Czeglédi, 2017. "Institutions and policies of economic freedom: different effects on income and growth," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 34(2), pages 259-282, August.
    8. Boris Nikolaev, 2014. "Economic Freedom and Quality of Life: Evidence from the OECD’s Your Better Life Index," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 29(Fall 2014), pages 61-96.
    9. Joshua C. Hall & Donald J. Lacombe & Timothy M. Shaughnessy, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Economic Growth Across U.S. States: A Spatial Panel Data Analysis," Working Papers 15-33, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    10. Daniel L. Bennett & Boris Nikolaev, 2017. "On the ambiguous economic freedom–inequality relationship," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 717-754, September.
    11. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Economic Freedom and Religion: An Empirical Investigation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6017, CESifo.
    12. J. Brandon Bolen & Claudia R. Williamson, 2019. "The Path of Reform: The Consequences of Institutional Volatility," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 400-425, August.
    13. Fan Zhang & Joshua Hall & Feng Yao, 2018. "Does Economic Freedom Affect The Production Frontier? A Semiparametric Approach With Panel Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1380-1395, April.
    14. Judit Kapás & Pál Czeglédi, 2007. "Economic Freedom: Theory First, Empiricism After," ICER Working Papers 10-2007, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    15. Andreas Bergh & Christian Bjørnskov, 2021. "Does economic freedom boost growth for everyone?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 170-186, May.
    16. Jeremy Horpedahl & Jeremy Jackson & David Mitchell, 2019. "Is Economic Freedom the Hidden Path to Social Justice?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 34(Winter 20), pages 55-74.
    17. Joshua C. Hall, 2016. "Institutional convergence: exit or voice?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(4), pages 829-840, October.
    18. Gehring, Kai, 2013. "Who Benefits from Economic Freedom? Unraveling the Effect of Economic Freedom on Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 74-90.
    19. Bodo Knoll & Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2013. "Economic Freedom, Money and Happiness – Why Deregulation Matters Beyond its Wealth Enhancing Effect," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 11(2), pages 35-42, 07.
    20. Cebula, Richard J. & Clark, J.R. & Mixon, Franklin G., Jr., 2013. "The Impact of Economic Freedom on Per Capita Real GDP: A Study of OECD Nations," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Control perceptions; Economic development; Economic freedom; Institutions; Procedural fairness; Social mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:45:y:2016:i:s:p:39-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505544 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.