A new study by the Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project presents estimates of the amount of non-profit activity in 35 countries.

I was interested to see if economic freedom correlated with their estimates. I used the FTE Volunteer hours estimates (see Table B.2 on page 58 of this publication (.pdf)) divided by the labor force (source: World Bank). This gives the amount of volunteer time as a percent of labor force time.

The scattergram below shows the volunteer variable (FTEVLF) on the vertical axis and the 2002 Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) rating on the horizontal.

People who care about civil society would do well to remember that a free (and rich) economy is a big boost to their various causes.

Hat tip to co-blogger Frank and Marginal Revolution.