Passing laws that allow same-sex unions or legalize medical marijuana can be more than just popular policy – they can also be good for business, a recent study suggests.
The research says that states that implemented social liberalization policies were rewarded with a 5 to 6 percent increase of innovation output compared to states that passed an anti-liberalization policy, which experienced a decrease of innovation by 1 percent.
Researchers defined social liberalization policies – legalizing same-sex civil unions, over a period between 1998 and 2006, or medical marijuana, between 1996 and 2006 – as policies in which government restrictions are eased. They also looked at states in which abortion laws were tightened between 1994 and 2006 as an example of anti-liberalization policy.
