Czech Economists on Economic Policy: A Survey

In Dec. 2008/Jan. 2009 I conducted a web-based survey of economists in my native country of the Czech Republic, and received 182 responses (a response rate of over 25 percent). The survey included 21 policy questions, each anchored in the status quo and soliciting judgment on whether policy should be liberalized, kept the same, or made more restrictive. Of the 21 issues, on 13 the average judgment leans toward liberalization (often dramatically so), on 3 is very close to the status quo, and on 5 leans toward greater restriction (never dramatically so). I create a liberalization score for each respondent and find that a majority lean toward liberalization. Comparing Czech economists to American economists, we notice some interesting differences. The paper provides links to the survey instrument (in Czech and in English) and the data.