Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom

🚨New Research Publication🚨

Bridwell Institute's Research Associate Professor Ryan H. Murphy and Colin O'Reilly have published a new article in the Journal of Comparative Economics:

"Sequencing Institutional Development: The Modernization Hypothesis Reconsidered"

The paper revisits one of the central questions in political economy: What comes first in the development process—state capacity, markets, or democracy?

Using data from 99 countries over several decades, Murphy and O'Reilly find that improvements in state capacity tend to precede increases in economic freedom. By contrast, they find relatively little evidence that either strong states or market institutions are necessary prerequisites for democratization.

www.sciencedirect.com

According to Meg Tuszynski, "Rules shape incentives. Incentives shape behavior. And behavior shapes outcomes...If policymakers want to understand inequality, they should begin by evaluating rules that negatively impact economic freedom."
For more, see Meg's op-ed in the Dallas Morning News.

What New York can learn from Texas about inequality Opportunity cannot be mandated. It emerges from a system that empowers people.

Sriparna Ghosh and our Dean Stansel recently had their paper, “Growth-Enhancing Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship at the Local Level,” published in the Journal of Regional Analysis & Policy. Using data for U.S. metro areas, they found a positive relationship between economic freedom and several measures of entrepreneurial activity.

Growth-Enhancing Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship at the Local Level | Published in Journal of Regional Analysis & Policy By Sriparna Ghosh, Dean Stansel. Paper applies LASSO regression to reweight Metropolitan Area Economic Freedom Index, identifying taxation and labor flexibility as strongest predictors of regional entrepreneurship, improving predictive accuracy but not capturing causal interactions.

Our Dean Stansel was quoted in the Dallas Morning News on the state of the Dallas “low-hire, low-fire” economy.
“Still, the diversity and strong fundamentals — including the relative affordability — of the North Texas economy means the region is relatively well-positioned to weather it, said Dean Stansel, a professor at SMU’s Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom. “Compared to other large metro areas, like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco — the costs are just a lot higher there for businesses, and a lot of them have made the choice to leave,” he said. “And one of the places they’re coming is here.” ”

Welcome to the 'low-hire, low-fire' economy? D-FW layoffs dipped in early 2026, but job gains have been elusive North Texas employers issued fewer layoffs in the first quarter of 2026 than any quarter since the summer of 2024.

Join us in congratulating our Robert Lawson on his appointment as President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) at its 50th Annual Meeting. Notably, he is the only individual in APEE’s history to serve as President twice.

Following a highly engaging program (organized during his tenure as Vice President) featuring sessions on APEE’s history and reflections on the 250th anniversary of economic freedom, Dr. Lawson delivered his presidential address. In it, he emphasized the importance of APEE’s distinctive culture, one that is both welcoming and collegial, while encouraging continued entrepreneurial efforts to engage both current and prospective members.

At our recent event, Robert Lawson highlighted Adam Smith's powerful principle for [free] trade: division of labor. By lowering barriers and allowing goods, capital, and ideas to flow, societies can expand opportunity, lower costs, and increase overall wealth.

After 250 years, these principles remain as relevant as ever, especially as policymakers continue to grapple with the real-world impacts of trade restrictions and global economic change.

Kickstarting our Texas Economic Forum event: Rising Sports in North TX – IndyCar & Cricket with a McLaren on campus and an official cricket bat.

Iowa has made major progress on tax reform—but property taxes remain a major obstacle to competitiveness.

In this short video for the Iowans for Tax Reform Foundation, Meg Tuszynski shows how over the past two decades, rising local spending has driven sharp increases in property taxes. If the state wants to tackle its property tax problem, localities first need to tackle their spending problems.

Iowa’s High Property Tax Burden is Detering Economic Competitiveness Iowa has made major progress on tax reform, moving from 43rd to 17th in the Tax Foundation’s Tax Competitiveness Index after cutting income and corporate tax...

Happy 250th to the Wealth of Nations!

Property taxes keep rising across the country—often faster than people’s incomes.

But cutting taxes without addressing government spending won’t provide lasting relief. In this Washington Times letter, Meg Tuszynski and John Hendrickson explain why meaningful property tax reform must include spending discipline, and highlight current proposals in Texas and Iowa.

Letter to the editor: Property tax relief requires controlling spending Across the country, property taxes have climbed steadily, often faster than incomes.