Economics and Human Flourishing

What we seek to accomplish

Advance our understanding of individual freedom, free markets, and entrepreneurship by fostering discoveries in economics which contribute to human flourishing.

Build global research capacity to better understand and promote the pillars of a free society, including respect for property rights, the rule of law, a culture of accountability, and personal responsibility.

Fund projects sourced by leading experts who are willing to champion other researchers’ outstanding new ideas related to individual freedom and free markets.

About Economics and Human Flourishing

Our Economics and Flourishing Priority supports discoveries in economics and closely related disciplines. Sir John Templeton, founder of Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF), believed that religious, political, and economic freedoms form the foundation for both spiritual and material progress. He wrote that “perhaps one of the greatest developments in human history has been the increasing possibility for the freedom of each individual to learn and grow and develop” (Essay - 4), and “Progress thrives in the context of fair and fully open competition” (Possibilities, 36).

Individual Freedom and Free Markets

Individual Freedom and Free Markets (IFFM) is one of TWCF’s core funding areas. Sir John felt that this funding should build support for research methods and institutions that further the pillars of a free society, including respect for property rights, the rule of law, a culture of accountability, and personal responsibility.

Grounded in these ideas, we fund projects that focus on individuals and their place in a free society. We support capacity building that develops the next generation of scholars working at the frontiers of empirical economic research to investigate individual freedom and free market theories in the context of outcomes related to human flourishing. Taking a global perspective, beyond high-income countries, we seek to make a global impact on public policy and private enterprise.

The Champion Approach

Since 2012, TWCF has awarded about $20 million in grants exploring various aspects of freedom and free markets. This funding has consisted mainly of relatively large, multi-year grants to well-established organizations whose mission and vision aligned with Sir John’s belief in the centrality of freedom to economic and spiritual progress.

In 2022, we plan to fund up to 12 research grants, sourced by leading experts who are willing to champion other researchers’ outstanding new ideas related to individual freedom and/or free markets. The key rationale behind the champion approach is to enable quick exploratory action by leveraging the talents, knowledge, and networks of leading experts in the field. Champions, who are highly regarded senior experts, assist us in identifying the most promising ideas and scholars, and in shaping proposals.

Learn more about our priorities here.

Open Science - Templeton World Charity Foundation

By supporting research focused on individual freedom and free markets, we aim to contribute to making the world more just, prosperous, and conducive to human flourishing.

Criteria Framing our Goals

Successful projects will apply core economic theories and principles, such as those concerning markets, competition, innovation, and agency, to issues involving individual freedom, free markets, or entrepreneurship. We have established a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria to frame our goals and appropriate topics in this space, as well as to stimulate their exploration.

Click here to find out more.