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Leading the Fight Against the Pandemic: Does Gender 'Really' Matter?

Author

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  • Supriya Garikipati

    (Management School, University of Liverpool)

  • Uma Kambhampati

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading)

Abstract

Since the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the relationship between national female leaders and their effectiveness in handling the COVID-crisis has received a lot of media attention. In this paper we scrutinise this association more systematically. We ask if there is a significant and systematic difference by gender of the national leader in the number of COVID-cases and deaths in the first quarter of the pandemic. We also examine differences in policy responses by male vs. female leaders as plausible explanations for the differences in outcomes. Using a constructed dataset for 194 countries, a variety of socio-demographic variables are used to match nearest neighbours. Our findings show that COVID-outcomes are systematically better in countries led by women and, to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive and coordinated policy responses adopted by them. We use insights from behavioural studies and leadership literature to speculate on the sources of these differences, as well as on their implications. Our hope is that this article will serve as a starting point to illuminate the discussion on the influence of national leaders in explaining the differences in country COVID-outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Supriya Garikipati & Uma Kambhampati, 2020. "Leading the Fight Against the Pandemic: Does Gender 'Really' Matter?," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2020-13, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    • Handle: RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2020-13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Humaira Kamal Pasha, 2024. "Smart access and smart protection for welfare gain in Europe during COVID‐19: An empirical investigation using real‐time data," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 41-66, January.
    2. Gus O'Donnell & Harry Begg, 2020. "Far from Well: The UK since COVID‐19, and Learning to Follow the Science(s)," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 761-804, December.
    3. Nelson, Michael A., 2021. "The timing and aggressiveness of early government response to COVID-19: Political systems, societal culture, and more," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    4. Luna Bellani & Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo, 2023. "Educate Some to Represent Many? Education and Female Political Representation in Europe," Working Papers 23.12, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    5. Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Elena & Dabrowska, Justyna & Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw, 2023. "Ann or Peter? Gender Stereotypes and Leadership during a Pandemic Crisis," OSF Preprints 3xp9z, Center for Open Science.
    6. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & El Ghoul, Sadok & Goodell, John W. & Guedhami, Omrane, 2022. "What does COVID-19 teach us about the role of national culture? Evidence from social distancing restrictions," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Danzer, Natalia & Garcia-Torres, Sebastian & Steinhardt, Max F. & Stella, Luca, 2023. "Women in Political Power and School Closure during COVID Times," IZA Discussion Papers 15975, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Bellani, Luna & Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa, 2023. "Educate Some to Represent Many? Education and Female Political Representation in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 16539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Diamantino Ribeiro & António Pedro Costa & Jorge Remondes, 2021. "Dubai and United Arab Emirates Ministry of Happiness: Presentation of the National Happiness and Positivity Programme - Qualitative Analysis," European Journal of Social Sciences Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 4, July -Dec.
    11. Bruce, Raphael & Cavgias, Alexsandros & Meloni, Luis & Remígio, Mário, 2022. "Under pressure: Women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Paola Profeta, 2020. "Gender Equality and Public Policy," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 37-40, November.
    13. Yuliana Loginova & Maria Semenova, 2024. "Board Gender Diversity And Bank Performance During Covid-19: Did Women Save The Day?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 94/FE/2024, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    14. Süheyla Üçışık Erbilen & Merve Uysal, 2023. "The Common Point of Countries Successful Policies in the Struggle Against COVID-19: Women Leaders," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    15. Kara, Alper & Nanteza, Aziidah & Ozkan, Aydin & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2022. "Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Pandemic; National Leadership; Women Leaders; Risk Aversion;
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