From research: Economic and academic freedom relation

Economic and academic freedom – do they relate? Academic freedom is not only a cornerstone of academia, but also a significant engine of scientific progress and economic growth. However, academic freedom varies greatly across countries and also across time. In a study published by Niclas Berggren and Christian Bjørnskov in the Journal of Institutional Economics, explanations of this variation in academic freedom are explored.

In a worldwide cross-country analysis, the authors explored a potentially new explanatory factor of academic freedom: economic freedom. Using historical and recent data from the Fraser Institute reports and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), aspects of each freedom indicator were related to each other.

The results show that the rule of law is positively and robustly related to academic freedom, suggesting that this area of economic freedom could serve as a guarantor of academic freedom. The likely reason, according to the authors, is that decision-makers who adhere to the equality and fairness of the rule of law are less inclined to intervene in a discretionary fashion in other areas of society. The study further reveals that regulatory freedom might be similarly related to academic freedom, though less robustly. This could indicate that interventionism in one policy area (economics) can generate interventionism in other policy areas, such as in academia.

Examine further details at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-institutional-economics/article/economic-freedom-and-academic-freedom-across-nations/5194EBEAF494BB9274AC6D433F609024