The Lithuanian Free Market Institute is listed among the most prestigious think tanks in the world. This year the University of Pennsylvania’s (USA) Global Go To Think Tank Index ranked LFMI 11th in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Global Go To Think Tank Index evaluates almost 7000 think tanks worldwide. LFMI has been among the top 2% for several years now. The Institute was also ranked 36th in the low budget segment (less than USD 5 mln annually), a remarkable achievement for a Lithuanian organization.
“This international recognition proves that it is possible to be visible without a huge budget. We are proud to be on par with other well-known organizations globally,” – says LFMI President Žilvinas Šilėnas.
LFMI has received extra recognition for its unique research and influence on Lithuania‘s economic and social policies. “We do government watch daily. We monitor the policy agenda and analyze legislative proposals. We build on the rigorous research and solid expertise of our analysts as well as extensive media outreach to stop excessive and burdensome policies. Politicians and opinion leaders widely quote our research projects such as the Municipal Performance Index or the Shadow Economy Report. Our research is seen as a valuable source of arguments in policy debates,”– notes Šilėnas.
LFMI is an active member of the European Policy Information Center (EPICENTER) and works with other Western European think tanks to inform the EU policy debate. We are at the forefront of the free-market policy within the 4Liberty.eu network of Central and Eastern European think-tanks. LFMI is a recognized member of the global Atlas Network. In 2014 we won the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award for our Municipality Performance Index project.
“Public policy institutes are a world-wide phenomenon or growing influence. They build bridges between academic knowledge and political power and therefore they are important to governments and citizens”– points out James G McGann, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and co-editor of Global Go To Think Tank Index.
“The Global Go To Think Tank Index is the result of an international survey of over 7,500 scholars, public and private donors, policy makers, and journalists who helped rank more than 6,600 think tanks using a set of 28 criteria developed by the TTCSP.” Brookings Institution (USA) was recognized as the best institute in the world for the 8th year in a row.
