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Female policymakers and educational expenditures: cross-country evidence

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  • Li-Ju Chen

    (University of Taipei)

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of women in politics on decision-making using public educational expenditures as the outcome of interest. The results suggest that an increase in the share of female legislators by one percentage point increases the ratio of educational expenditures to GDP by 0.038 percentage points. I then consider some different contexts, under which the influence of female legislators may be affected. The effect of female legislators on educational policies is robust in the different contexts considered, but the magnitude may change revealing perhaps that the distribution of female legislators depends on the context. Moreover, this study supports the hypothesis that the identity of the legislator matters for policy. To determine whether female legislators have causal impact on education, this paper uses electoral rules as the instrument for the proportion of female legislators. The results are encouraging, and are very likely to provide causal evidence of female legislators on educational expenditures.

Suggested Citation

  • Li-Ju Chen, 2021. "Female policymakers and educational expenditures: cross-country evidence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 129-155, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:51:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10657-020-09673-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-020-09673-3
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    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Cheikh T. Ndour & Judith C. M. Ngoungou, 2023. "The effects of gender political inclusion and democracy on environmental performance: evidence from the method of moments by quantile regression," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/060, African Governance and Development Institute..
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational expenditures; Legislator; Gender; Political economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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