Relatório Técnico Conclusivo

Growth study has always had a strong presence in both theoretical and empirical economic research and discussions. Over last decades, in addition to variables such as capital, labor and technology; institutions and their impact on the level of GDP of nations has been considered. In 1995, two indicators that sought to synthesize the characteristics of economic institutions were created, Economic Freedom of the Word (EFW), from the Fraser Institute, and Economic Freedom Index (EFI) of the Heritage Foundation, whose proposals were to consolidate, through a clear and defined methodology, a measurement economic freedom degree reflected in the institutions on each country. In this study a data panel analysis consisting of 91 countries, during the period from 2000 to 2017, analyses the effect of economic freedom, using the aforementioned indices, on the level on their GPD. For the construction of the models, a literature review was carried out, pointing out the main factors that affects economic growth and, therefore, its level of GDP per capita. Based on this review, the dependent and explanatory variables used in the recent empirical studies were identified together with the methodologies used on such studies. The models used in this research were then elaborated and tested. The results indicated that the economic freedom indices used, EFW and EFI, have a positive effect on the level of GDP in the countries.