LANIC LANIC Home Page This page in English Esta página en Español Esta página em Português Lanic Site Map Search Lanic & Latin America Suggest a Link Information About Lanic

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Economic Freedom

Factors of the Economic Freedom Score - 1997

Trade Policy

Taxation Policy

State Inter- vention

Monetary Policy

Capital Flows

Banking Policy

Wage & Price Controls

Property Rights

Regul- ation

Black Market

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Score

Score

Score

Score

Bahamas

5

1

2

1

3

2

2

1

1

2

2.1

2.0

2.0

2.0

Belize

5

4

2

1

2

3

2

3

3

3

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.8

Cuba

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5.0

5.0

5.0

5.0

Dominican Republic

5

3

2

5

3

3

2

4

4

4

3.4

3.5

3.5

3.5

Guyana

5

4

3

5

3

3

2

3

4

4

3.7

3.4

3.5

3.6

Haiti

4

3

3

3

4

4

4

5

5

5

4.2

4.2

4.0

4.0

Jamaica

2

3

2

4

2

2

3

2

3

3

2.8

2.7

2.6

2.6

Suriname

5

4

3

5

3

4

3

3

4

5

..

3.9

4.0

3.9

Trinidad & Tobago

5

5

2

2

1

2

2

1

3

3

..

2.5

2.6

2.6

Caribbean

4.6

3.4

2.7

3.4

2.9

3.1

2.8

3.0

3.6

3.8

4.0

3.3

3.3

3.3

Costa Rica

4

3

2

3

2

3

2

3

3

3

2.9

2.8

2.8

2.8

El Salvador

3

3

1

3

2

2

2

3

3

3

2.7

2.5

2.6

2.5

Guatemala

3

3

1

3

3

2

3

3

4

3

3.1

2.9

2.8

2.8

Honduras

4

4

1

3

3

3

3

3

4

4

3.2

3.2

3.2

3.2

Nicaragua

4

3

2

5

2

3

3

4

4

5

3.9

3.6

3.6

3.5

Panama

3

3

3

1

2

1

2

3

3

3

2.7

2.4

2.5

2.4

Central America

3.5

3.0

1.7

3.0

2.3

2.3

2.5

3.2

3.5

3.5

3.1

2.9

2.9

2.9

Argentina

4

3

2

5

2

2

2

2

2

2

2.9

2.7

2.7

2.6

Bolivia

2

3

3

3

2

2

1

3

4

4

3.2

2.8

2.9

2.7

Brazil

4

3

3

5

3

3

3

3

3

4

3.3

3.5

3.4

3.4

Chile

2

4

1

3

2

3

2

1

2

2

2.5

2.5

2.3

2.2

Colombia

3

4

2

4

2

2

2

3

3

5

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.0

Ecuador

3

3

1

5

2

3

2

3

4

4

3.3

3.2

3.1

3.0

Paraguay

2

3

2

4

1

2

3

4

3

5

2.8

2.7

2.8

2.9

Peru

2

3

1

5

2

2

2

3

4

4

3.4

3.0

2.9

2.8

Uruguay

2

3

3

5

2

2

2

2

3

3

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.7

Venezuela

3

4

3

5

3

3

3

3

3

5

3.0

3.5

3.6

3.5

South America

3.0

3.4

2.3

4.9

2.3

2.7

2.4

3.0

3.4

4.2

3.3

3.3

3.2

3.2

Mexico

3

4

2

5

2

4

3

3

4

3

3.1

3.4

3.4

3.3

LAC

3.5

3.2

2.2

3.8

2.4

2.7

2.5

2.9

3.4

3.7

2.9

3.1

3.1

3.0

Rating Scale

Each factor is rated on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 is the most free and 5 the least free.

1. Trade Policy: based on average tariff rates.

2. Taxation Policy: based on income and corporate tax rates.

3. State Intervention in the Economy: based on government consumption as a percentage of GDP and size of state-owned sector.

4. Monetary Policy: based on average inflation rate.

5. Capital Flows and Foreign Investment: based on assessment of limitations or supports for foreign investment.

6. Banking Policy: based on sliding scale that measures relative openness of country's banking system.

7. Wage and Price Controls: based on assessment of relative degree to which government controls wages and prices.

8. Property Rights: based on an assessment of government's protection of private property rights.

9. Regulation: based on perceived burden of regulation, levels of corruption, and uniformity of application.

10. Black Market: based on estimate of size of black market as a percentage of GDP.

Source: The Heritage Foundation, The Index of Economic Freedom 1998, Washington, D.C., 1998.

Definition: As defined by the Heritage Foundation, economic freedom refers to the absence of government coercion or constraint on the production, distribution, or consumption of goods and services.

Notes: Each country has been given an overall economic freedom score based on the average of 10 individual factor scores. These factors are rated on a scale from 1 to 5: factors rated with a 5 signify a ‘least free’ rating and factors rated w ith a 1 signify a ‘most free’ rating. The Heritage Foundation treats the 10 factors as equally important to the level of economic freedom in any country. As such, the factors are not weighted. The factors are as follows: 1) Trade policy: bas ed on average tariff rates; 2) Taxation Policy: based on income and corporate tax rates; 3) State Intervention in the Economy: based on government consumption as a percentage of GDP and size of the state-owned sector; 4) Monetary Policy: based on average inflation rate; 5) Capital Flows and Foreign Investment: based on an assessment of the limitations or supports for foreign investment; 6) Banking Policy: based on a sliding scale that measures the relative openness of a country’s banking syst em; 7) Wage and Price Controls: based on an assessment of the relative degree to which the government controls wages and prices; 8) Property Rights: based on an assessment of the government’s protection of private property rights; 9) Regulation: based on the perceived burden of regulation, levels of corruption, and uniformity of application; 10) Black Market: based on an estimate of the size of the black market as a percentage of GDP. Regional averages are not weighted.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]