IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v230y2025ics0167268124004207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender differences in political career progression

Author

Listed:
  • Brown, Ryan
  • Mansour, Hani
  • O’Connell, Stephen D.
  • Reeves, James

Abstract

This paper quantifies the gender gap in the returns to electoral success on the career progression of novice U.S. state legislators. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that narrowly winning a state legislature election doubles the probability that a female politician will later compete for a higher-level legislative seat compared to narrowly elected male politicians. While the gender gap in the effect of local political experience on winning a higher-level election also favors women, it is not precisely estimated. The gender difference in the effect of winning a state legislature seat is larger when serving in positions that closely resemble the responsibilities and workload of higher-level positions. We conclude that the pathway from local to higher-level political offices functions at least as effectively for women as for men. Therefore, supporting the recruitment, funding, and campaigning of women in local elections can be an effective strategy to increase their representation at the highest levels of government.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Ryan & Mansour, Hani & O’Connell, Stephen D. & Reeves, James, 2025. "Gender differences in political career progression," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:230:y:2025:i:c:s0167268124004207
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106806
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268124004207
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106806?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mattozzi, Andrea & Merlo, Antonio, 2008. "Political careers or career politicians?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3-4), pages 597-608, April.
    2. Irma Clots-Figueras, 2012. "Are Female Leaders Good for Education? Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 212-244, January.
    3. Laurent Gobillon & Dominique Meurs & Sébastien Roux, 2015. "Estimating Gender Differences in Access to Jobs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 317-363.
    4. Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M. & De Boef, Suzanna & Lin, Tse-Min, 2004. "The Dynamics of the Partisan Gender Gap," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(3), pages 515-528, August.
    5. Daniel Diermeier & Michael Keane & Antonio Merlo, 2005. "A Political Economy Model of Congressional Careers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 347-373, March.
    6. John T. Addison & Orgul Demet Ozturk & Si Wang, 2014. "The Role of Gender in Promotion and Pay over a Career," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(3), pages 280-317.
    7. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2010. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 228-255, July.
    8. Kalsi, Priti, 2017. "Seeing is believing- can increasing the number of female leaders reduce sex selection in rural India?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-18.
    9. Sarah F. Anzia & Christopher R. Berry, 2011. "The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 478-493, July.
    10. Marianne Bertrand & Sandra E Black & Sissel Jensen & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2019. "Breaking the Glass Ceiling? The Effect of Board Quotas on Female Labour Market Outcomes in Norway," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(1), pages 191-239.
    11. Silbermann, Rachel, 2015. "Gender Roles, Work-Life Balance, and Running for Office," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 10(2), pages 123-153, June.
    12. repec:now:journl:100.00014087 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Brollo, Fernanda & Troiano, Ugo, 2016. "What happens when a woman wins an election? Evidence from close races in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 28-45.
    14. Ferreira, Fernando & Gyourko, Joseph, 2014. "Does gender matter for political leadership? The case of U.S. mayors," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 24-39.
    15. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D Cattaneo & Max H Farrell, 2020. "Optimal bandwidth choice for robust bias-corrected inference in regression discontinuity designs," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 23(2), pages 192-210.
    16. Santosh Anagol & Thomas Fujiwara, 2016. "The Runner-Up Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(4), pages 927-991.
    17. Astrid Kunze & Amalia R. Miller, 2017. "Women Helping Women? Evidence from Private Sector Data on Workplace Hierarchies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(5), pages 769-775, December.
    18. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    19. Tuomas Pekkarinen & Juhana Vartiainen, 2006. "Gender Differences in Promotion on a Job Ladder: Evidence from Finnish Metalworkers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(2), pages 285-301, January.
    20. Manuel F. Bagues & Berta Esteve-Volart, 2010. "Can Gender Parity Break the Glass Ceiling? Evidence from a Repeated Randomized Experiment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(4), pages 1301-1328.
    21. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01206083 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1091-1119, April.
    23. Sonia Bhalotra & Irma Clots-Figueras, 2014. "Health and the Political Agency of Women," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 164-197, May.
    24. Cassidy, Hugh & DeVaro, Jed & Kauhanen, Antti, 2016. "Promotion signaling, gender, and turnover: New theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PA), pages 140-166.
    25. Black, Gordon S., 1972. "A Theory of Political Ambition: Career Choices and the Role of Structural Incentives," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 144-159, March.
    26. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Zohal Hessami, 2018. "Does the Election of a Female Leader Clear the Way for More Women in Politics?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 95-121, August.
    27. Richard L. Fox & Jennifer L. Lawless, 2004. "Entering the Arena? Gender and the Decision to Run for Office," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 264-280, April.
    28. Christina Ladam & Jeffrey J. Harden & Jason H. Windett, 2018. "Prominent Role Models: High‐Profile Female Politicians and the Emergence of Women as Candidates for Public Office," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(2), pages 369-381, April.
    29. Raghabendra Chattopadhyay & Esther Duflo, 2004. "Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(5), pages 1409-1443, September.
    30. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard & Jenna Stearns, 2018. "Equal but Inequitable: Who Benefits from Gender-Neutral Tenure Clock Stopping Policies?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(9), pages 2420-2441, September.
    31. Ryan Brown & Hani Mansour & Stephen D O’Connell, 2022. "Does Local Female Political Representation Empower Women to Run for Higher Office? Evidence from State and National Legislatures in India," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 198-218.
    32. Matias D. Cattaneo & Michael Jansson & Xinwei Ma, 2018. "Manipulation testing based on density discontinuity," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 18(1), pages 234-261, March.
    33. Melanie Wasserman, 2021. "Up the Political Ladder: Gender Parity in the Effects of Electoral Defeats," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 169-173, May.
    34. Maestas, Cherie D. & Fulton, Sarah & Maisel, L. Sandy & Stone, Walter J., 2006. "When to Risk It? Institutions, Ambitions, and the Decision to Run for the U.S. House," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 100(2), pages 195-208, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ryan Brown & Hani Mansour & Stephen O'Connell & James Reeves, 2019. "Gender Differences in Political Career Progression: Evidence from U.S. Elections," CESifo Working Paper Series 7821, CESifo.
    2. Jon H Fiva & Max-Emil M King, 2024. "Child Penalties in Politics," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(658), pages 648-670.
    3. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Tricaud, Clemence, 2022. "Gender and Electoral Incentives: Evidence from Crisis Response," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12411, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. Lippmann, Quentin, 2023. "Persistence of incumbents and female access to political positions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 327-349.
    5. Corekcioglu, Gozde & Francesconi, Marco & Kunze, Astrid, 2024. "Expansions in paid parental leave and mothers’ economic progress," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Guan, Yuexin & Pan, Wei-Fong & Tang, Siyu, 2024. "Female political leaders and R&D investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    7. Hessami, Zohal & da Fonseca, Mariana Lopes, 2020. "Female political representation and substantive effects on policies: A literature review," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    8. Maitra, Pushkar & Rosenblum, Daniel, 2022. "Upstream effects of female political reservations," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. 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).
    10. Stefano Gagliarducci & M. Daniele Paserman, 2012. "Gender Interactions within Hierarchies: Evidence from the Political Arena," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(3), pages 1021-1052.
    11. Peveri, Julieta & Sangnier, Marc, 2023. "Gender differences in re-contesting decisions: New evidence from French municipal elections," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 574-594.
    12. Thomas Le & Julien Sauvagnat, 2022. "Electoral Competition, Voter Bias, and Women in Politics," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 352-394.
    13. Kantorowicz, Jarosław & Köppl-Turyna, Monika, 2020. "Electoral systems and female representation in politics: Evidence from a regression discontinuity," Working Papers 20, Agenda Austria.
    14. Quentin Lippmann, 2023. "Persistence of incumbents and female access to political positions," Post-Print hal-04103626, HAL.
    15. Priyanka, Sadia, 2020. "Do female politicians matter for female labor market outcomes? Evidence from state legislative elections in India," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Davide Cipullo, 2021. "Gender Gaps in Political Careers: Evidence from Competitive Elections," CESifo Working Paper Series 9075, CESifo.
    17. Lippmann, Quentin, 2022. "Gender and lawmaking in times of quotas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    18. Brown, Ryan & Mansour, Hani & O'Connell, Stephen D., 2018. "Closing the Gender Gap in Leadership Positions: Can Expanding the Pipeline Increase Parity?," IZA Discussion Papers 11263, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Sonia Bhalotra & Brian Min & Yogesh Uppal, 2024. "Women legislators and economic performance," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 151-214, June.
    20. Felipe González & Magdalena Larreboure, 2021. "The Impact of the Women’s March on the U.S. House Election," Documentos de Trabajo 560, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:230:y:2025:i:c:s0167268124004207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.