Effects of Economic Freedom on Life Expectancy A panel data Analysis of Selected Countries, Including Iran

There might be a link between socio-economic factors such as economic freedom on life expectancy. This paper focuses on the eventual relationships between economic freedoms and life expectancy in seven selected countries for the period 2000-2010. Two estimation models, namely Panel Data and Pooling Data analysis are employed. The first model estimates the effect of economic freedom on economic growth, while the second one estimates the effect of both economic freedom and economic growth on life expectancy. The results suggest that economic freedom appears to have a positive effect on economic growth. Also, a positive effect of index of economic freedom on life expectancy is found. Therefore, we conclude that greater economic freedom increases life expectancy.