License to Sin: The Politics and Opportunity Cost of Sexual Freedom

Abstract

This paper presents the development of two Sexual Freedom Indexes for the 50 U.S. states for the year 2010. The indexes measure the degree to which the laws of the individual states encourage or discourage sexual freedom. Over a dozen variables are used to construct the index. Further, this paper runs some bivariate and multivariate regressions with the Sexual Freedom Indexes. One finding is that sexual freedom and economic freedom have a negative relationship. The paper seeks to complete a preliminary investigation into the role of time preferences, and the role of the median voter and interest groups in sexual freedom.

Keywords: Sexual Freedom Index, Economic Freedom, Time Preferences, Median Voter, Interest Groups

JEL Classification: A13, D72, K42