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Women and local public finance

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  • Casarico, Alessandra
  • Lattanzio, Salvatore
  • Profeta, Paola

Abstract

Does the gender of the mayor affect the size and composition of public expenditures and revenues? Using a sharp regression discontinuity design in close mixed gender races for the election of mayors in Italian municipalities in the period 2000–2015, we find no significant differences in policies implemented by male and female mayors. We explore whether the result masks heterogeneity by gender composition of the local government and by electoral rules according to which a mayor is elected. We find some evidence that female mayors devote a larger share of spending to the environment when there are more women in the municipal council, whereas they reduce the amount of resources going to social spending under the run-off relative to the single round system.

Suggested Citation

  • Casarico, Alessandra & Lattanzio, Salvatore & Profeta, Paola, 2022. "Women and local public finance," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:72:y:2022:i:c:s0176268021000835
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2021.102096
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    Cited by:

    1. Raphael Bruce & Alexsandros Cavgias & Luis Meloni & Mario Remigio, 2021. "Under Pressure: Women's Leadership During the COVID-19 Crisis," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2021_19, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    2. Israel García & Bernd Hayo, 2023. "Fiscal Reform in Spanish Municipalities: Gender Differences in Budgetary Adjustment," CESifo Working Paper Series 10297, CESifo.
    3. Davide Cipullo, 2021. "Gender Gaps in Political Careers: Evidence from Competitive Elections," CESifo Working Paper Series 9075, CESifo.
    4. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Tricaud, Clemence, 2022. "Gender and Electoral Incentives: Evidence from Crisis Response," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12411, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Cerqua, Augusto & Zampollo, Federico, 2023. "Deeds or words? The local influence of anti-immigrant parties on foreigners’ flows," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Gianmarco Daniele & Gemma Dipoppa & Massimo Pulejo, 2023. "Attacking Women or their Policies? Understanding Violence against Women in Politics," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 23207, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    7. Bansak, Kirk & Nowacki, Tobias, 2022. "Effect Heterogeneity and Causal Attribution in Regression Discontinuity Designs," SocArXiv vj34m, Center for Open Science.
    8. Luca Bellodi & Massimo Morelli & Matia Vannoni, 2021. "The Costs of Populism for the Bureaucracy and Government Performance: Evidence from Italian Municipalities," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21158, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Municipal government; Local public finance; Regression discontinuity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

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