The Freer the Fatter? a Cross-country Panel Study of the Relationship Between Changes in Body-mass Index and Economic Freedom
Abstract: This study examines whether there is a relationship between economic freedom, as measured by the Economic Freedom of the World Index, and the large increases in obesity that have been observed worldwide. Using a panel of 82 middle- and high-income countries, the study finds that the level of economic freedom is related to increases in mean adult body-mass index. The effect is observed in both middle- and high-income countries, and is robust to controls for GDP per capita, education structure, and the fraction of females in the labor force. This suggests that, in a context of expanded personal choice and free markets, consumers make worse decisions from an obesity perspective.
