ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE: THE BEST AND WORST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD What makes a country the best place to live in a global economy is the right combination of market and government institutions to provide for both economic opportunity and quality of life for its citizens. --Panos Mourdoukoutas, C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and Abraham Stefanidis, Athens University of Economics and Business What is the Economic Opportunity and Quality of Life Index? The EOQL Index measures how efficiently and effectively different countries combine and mix market and government institutions to advance economic and social prosperity. The Index has two components: The Economic Opportunity component that measures how well countries deploy market institutions to perform what they do best: Unleash the creativity and ingenuity of the people to allocate resources efficiently and effectively in the production of goods and services that satisfy their private needs, creating wealth for themselves and society. It includes the Economic Freedom, the Ease of Doing Business, the Globalization, the Number of R&D Scientists, and the Growth Competitiveness subcomponents. The Economic Freedom subcomponent, for instance, measures a society s freedom to work, invest, produce and consume products and services (see Exhibit 1). Similarly, the Globalization subcomponent measures a society s openness and connectivity to other societies. The Quality of Life component that measures how well countries deploy government institutions to perform what they do best: Release the compassion of the people for the commons, areas of society where markets fail or are inadequate. It includes the Environmental Sustainability, the Occupational Accident and the Human Development subcomponents. The Environmental Sustainability component, for instance, measures a society s natural resources, pollution and environmental performance. Similarly, the Human Development subcomponent measures a society s standards in health, knowledge and life decency terms.
Which countries have the best and worst EOQL scores? Iceland, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and Finland occupy the top positions in the list of countries that best combine and mix market and government institutions to deliver economic and social prosperity (see EOQL Index). They nurture free and open markets, which provide economic prosperity. At the same time, they let an efficient and effective government create safe workplaces, protect the environment, and help people learn and live long and healthy material and spiritual lives. Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Benin occupy the bottom positions on the list. They all fail to develop and nurture the conditions that make each system functional and allow it to excel, deploying government institutions and market institutions backwards, in areas of society each one fails rather than excels: government institutions in addressing private needs and market institutions in addressing common needs. The Economic Opportunity and Quality of Life (EOQL) Index Country EOQL Score Country EOQL Score 1 ICELAND 0.036 61 TUNISIA 0.497 2 CANADA 0.062 62 BRAZIL 0.504 3 SWEDEN 0.063 63 ROMANIA 0.506 4 SWITZERLAND 0.066 64 GEORGIA 0.509 5 FINLAND 0.069 65 NAMIBIA 0.511 6 AUSTRALIA 0.071 66 MONGOLIA 0.513 7 NORWAY 0.072 67 KAJAKHSTAN 0.524 8 DENMARK 0.086 68 EL SALVADOR 0.529 9 IRELAND 0.086 69 SOUTH AFRICA 0.531 10 SINGAPORE 0.087 70 BELARUS 0.536 11 USA 0.093 71 BOLIVIA 0.549 12 NEW ZEALAND 0.102 72 MOLDOVA 0.552 13 HONG KONG SAR 0.106 73 KYRGYZSTAN 0.555 14 NETHERLANDS 0.123 74 PARAGUAY 0.560 15 AUSTRIA 0.132 75 GUYANA 0.564 16 JAPAN 0.142 76 NICARAGUA 0.566 17 UK 0.145 77 SRI LANKA 0.572 18 GERMANY 0.156 78 ECUADOR 0.587 19 ESTONIA 0.157 79 UKRAINE 0.597 20 LITHUANIA 0.188 80 TURKEY 0.610 21 FRANCE 0.209 81 UGANDA 0.615 22 BELGIUM 0.209 82 PHILIPPINES, THE 0.621 23 PORTUGAL 0.235 83 GHANA 0.622 24 ISRAEL 0.242 84 CHINA 0.634 25 LATVIA 0.242 85 AZERBAIJAN 0.644 26 SLOVENIA 0.249 86 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 0.656 27 SPAIN 0.256 87 MADAGASCAR 0.660 28 CHILE 0.276 88 GUATEMALA 0.663 29 CZECH REPUBLIC 0.285 89 VENEZUELA 0.665 30 SLOVAK REPUBLIC, THE 0.289 90 CAMBODIA 0.666 31 HUNGARY 0.294 91 MOROCCO 0.672 32 ITALY 0.306 92 ALGERIA 0.675 33 URUGUAY 0.321 93 HONDURAS 0.677 34 MALAYSIA 0.322 94 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 0.685 35 KOREA SOUTH 0.324 95 INDONESIA 0.693 36 TAIWAN 0.324 96 NEPAL 0.703 37 GREECE 0.334 97 PAKISTAN 0.713 38 ARMENIA 0.342 98 ZAMBIA 0.714 39 COSTA RICA 0.344 99 SENEGAL 0.715 40 CROATIA 0.357 100 INDIA 0.720 41 PANAMA 0.368 101 KENYA 0.727 42 POLAND 0.370 102 TANZANIA 0.735
43 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 0.387 103 MALI 0.740 44 MAURITIUS 0.391 104 EGYPT 0.742 45 BULGARIA 0.397 105 VIETNAM 0.746 46 KUWAIT 0.414 106 CAMEROON 0.755 47 ARGENTINA 0.415 107 SYRIA 0.770 48 FYROM 0.445 108 IRAN 0.777 49 ALBANIA 0.446 109 BANGLADESH 0.778 50 THAILAND 0.446 110 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 0.784 51 JORDAN 0.459 111 NIGERIA 0.785 52 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 0.461 112 CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 0.786 53 BOTSWANA 0.463 113 MALAWI 0.792 54 PERU 0.472 114 MOZAMBIQUE 0.803 55 RUSSIA 0.475 115 GUINEA 0.809 56 COLOMBIA 0.477 116 BENIN 0.818 57 MEXICO 0.480 117 BURKINA FASO 0.839 58 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 0.488 118 CHAD 0.863 59 SAUDI ARABIA 0.493 119 ETHIOPIA 0.875 60 JAMAICA 0.497 120 ZIMBABWE 0.879 Note: EOQL scores range between 0.036 and 0.0879; they give relative country ranks, the lower the individual country score, the better its EOQL rank. How is the EOQL Index estimated? The Index is estimated by using published data on each of its individual components. Each subcomponent of the EOQL Index is calculated as a relative rank from the published data (see Exhibit 2). For example, the Economic Freedom component is the score derived from a country s position divided by the total number of ranked countries. The US is ranking 9 th out of 157 countries. Therefore, the value of this component is 0.057. Once all components are calculated, then they are weighted and compiled to the final EOQL score. Applying the EOQL score calculation in 120 countries we derive the EOQL countries ranking. Exhibit 1 Sources of Data Used in the Index Components Economic Opportunity Economic Freedom Ease of Doing Business Globalization Global Creativity Researchers (per million people) Growth Competitiveness Quality of Life Environmental Sustainability Occupational Accident Human Development Publication Source The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation The World Bank The A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Based on Kenneth Florida s The Flight of the Creative Class Based on The United Nations Data The World Economic Forum Yale University, Columbia University and the World Economic Forum Based on International Labour Organization s Data United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Components Exhibit 2 EOQL Score Estimation (a) # ed (b) Relative (c)=(a)/(b) Contribution to the Score (d)= (c)*weight factor Economic Opportunity Score 0,000 Economic Freedom 157 0,000 0,000 Ease of Doing Business 155 0,000 0,000 Globalization 62 0,000 0,000 Global Creativity 45 0,000 0,000 Researchers (per million people) 96 0,000 0,000 Growth Competitiveness 117 0,000 0,000 Quality of Life Score 0,000 Environmental Sustainability 146 0,000 0,000 Occupational Accident 141 0, 000 0,000 Human Development 177 0, 000 0,000 EOQL Index Score 0,000 Indicative country EOQL Index scores Exhibit 3 Iceland EOQL Index Score Indicator ed to the Score Economic Freedom 5 157 0.032 0.016 Ease of Doing Business 12 155 0.077 0.023 Globalization 62 0.000 0.000 Global Creativity 7 45 0.156 0.008 Researchers (per million people) 2 96 0.021 0.001 Growth Competitiveness 7 117 0.060 0.006 Economic Opportunity Score 0.054 Environmental Sustainability 5 146 0.034 0.010 Occupational Accident 1 141 0.007 0.001 Human Development 2 177 0.011 0.007 Quality of Life Score 0.018 EOQL Index Score 0.036 * Iceland s position: #1, Good EOQL score range: 0.036-0.458 Exhibit 4 USA EOQL Index Score
Indicator ed to the Score Economic Freedom 9 157 0.057 0.017 Ease of Doing Business 3 155 0.019 0.006 Globalization 4 62 0.065 0.013 Global Creativity 4 45 0.089 0.004 Researchers (per million people) 6 96 0.063 0.003 Growth Competitiveness 2 117 0.017 0.002 Economic Opportunity Score 0.045 Environmental Sustainability 45 146 0.308 0.092 Occupational Accident 19 141 0.135 0.013 Human Development 10 177 0.056 0.034 Quality of Life Score 0.140 EOQL Index Score 0.093 * USA s position: #11, Good EOQL score range: 0.036-0.458 Indicator Exhibit 5 Turkey EOQL Index Score ed to the Score Economic Freedom 85 157 0.541 0.162 Ease of Doing Business 93 155 0.600 0.180 Globalization 56 62 0.903 0.181 Global Creativity 39 45 0.867 0.043 Researchers (per million people) 63 96 0.656 0.033 Growth Competitiveness 66 117 0.564 0.056 Economic Opportunity Score 0.656 Environmental Sustainability 91 146 0.623 0.187 Occupational Accident 82 141 0.582 0.058 Human Development 94 177 0.531 0.319 Quality of Life Score 0.564 EOQL Index Score 0.610 * Turkey s position: #80, Bad EOQL score range: 0.458-0.668 Indicator Exhibit 6 Iran EOQL Index Score ed to the Score Index of Economic Freedom 156 157 0.994 0.397
Ease of Doing Business 108 155 0.697 0.209 Globalization Index 62 62 1.000 0.200 Global Creativity Index 45 0.000 0.000 Researchers (per million people) 55 96 0.573 0.057 Growth Competitiveness Index 117 0.000 0.000 Economic Effectiveness Score 0.864 Environmental Sustainability Index 132 146 0.904 0.271 Occupational Accident Index 118 141 0.837 0.084 Human Development Index 99 177 0.559 0.336 Social Effectiveness Score 0.691 EOQL Index Score 0.777 * Iran s position: #108, Bad EOQL score range: 0.669-0.879