Totally agree and Estonia e-residency program is a great way to do that. But that doesn't solve all problems mentionned by the op

- timezone : I have worked and converted companies to global remote. It is surprisingly flowless and often leads to increase in productivity. Yet, most companies are afraid of "not enough facetime"

- employee "ownership". You can make your contract very similar to an employment contract (working hours, copyright ownership...) but most companies want "their own employees". It's a culture thing that I think is linked to perceived loyalty and subordination

- perks and benefits. Most companies think they are cool because they offer a lower salary but plenty of free lunch, gym membership, insurance... you can't put that in a contractor's contract