It’s a Small World after All: Internet Access and Institutional Quality

Using a panel of up to 114 countries covering the years 1990 through 2010 we estimate the effect of Internet use on changes in countries’ Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) scores. The point estimates suggest that the marginal effect is generally positive. However, starting from above-average EFW scores (> 7.7 out of 10; examples in 2010 include the UK, Switzerland, and Hong Kong) the marginal effect turns negative. Taking this interaction into...