U.S. State-Level Economic Freedom During the COVID-19 Pandemic

25 Pages Posted: 3 Feb 2023

See all articles by Vincent Miozzi

Vincent Miozzi

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute; Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Benjamin Powell

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute; Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business

Date Written: January 1, 2023

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic led to extensive new government regulations and lockdown policies that significantly reduced economic freedom across U.S. states. Many of these new pandemic-related regulatory restrictions on economic freedom varied significantly from state to state but are largely missed by the existing Economic Freedom of North America Report (EFNA). This paper adjusts the Our World in Data Covid-19 Stringency Index into a state-level measure of lockdown regulatory freedom and then merges it into the EFNA index to better measure relative economic freedom across U.S. states in 2020. We find significant differences in the relative ranking of economic freedom between states once we adjust for lockdown regulatory restrictions.

Keywords: Covid-19, pandemic, economic freedom, institutions

JEL Classification: I18, H1

Suggested Citation

Miozzi, Vincent and Powell, Benjamin, U.S. State-Level Economic Freedom During the COVID-19 Pandemic (January 1, 2023). Free Market Institute Research Paper No. 4347196, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4347196 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4347196

Vincent Miozzi

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute ( email )

Box 45059
Lubbock, TX 79409-5059
United States

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics ( email )

Suite 167, 2625 Memorial Circle
TTU Administration
Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

Benjamin Powell (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute ( email )

Box 45059
Lubbock, TX 79409-5059
United States
806.742.7138 (Phone)
806.742.1854 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.fmi.ttu.edu

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business ( email )

Lubbock, TX 79409
United States
806.834.3097 (Phone)
806.742.1854 (Fax)

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