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Women in Political Bodies as Policymakers

Author

Listed:
  • Thushyanthan Baskaran

    (Ruhr-University Bochum, ZEW Mannheim)

  • Zohal Hessami

    (Ruhr-University Bochum, CESifo Munich, IZA Bonn)

Abstract

We investigate how female representation impacts policymaking using the example of child care and new hand-collected data on local council elections in Bavaria. RDD estimations (mixed-gender races for last party-specific council seats) show that an additional female councilor accelerates the expansion of public child care by 40%. We also document an important nonlinearity: an additional woman accelerates the expansion of child care only in councils with few women. Council meeting minutes reveal that women can be effective in councils despite being a nonpivotal minority because they change “the conversation.”

Suggested Citation

  • Thushyanthan Baskaran & Zohal Hessami, 2025. "Women in Political Bodies as Policymakers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 107(6), pages 1501-1517, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:107:y:2025:i:6:p:1501-1517
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01352
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alda Marchese & Paola Profeta & Giulia Savio, 2025. "Who cares about childcare? Covid-19 and gender differences in local public spending," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 32(6), pages 1990-2010, December.
    2. De Benedetto, Marco Alberto & Giacobbe, Pasquale & Mosca, Andrea, 2025. "Female political representation and budget forecast errors," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 90(PB).
    3. Passarelli, Francesca & Boto-García, David, 2025. "Gender quotas and politicians’ education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    4. Tommaso Giommoni & Enrico Rubolino, 2024. "The Cost of Gender Identity Norms: Evidence from a Spouse Tax Credit," CESifo Working Paper Series 11311, CESifo.
    5. Schirner, Sebastian, 2025. "Managing migration: Female mayors and the intake of refugees," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    6. Shouzhi Xia, 2023. "Female members of parliament, right-wing parties, and the inclusiveness of immigration policy: evidence from 26 European countries," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 689-707, December.
    7. Jain, Chandan & Nandwani, Bharti, 2024. "Female representation in school management and school quality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 84-103.
    8. Kirill Borusyak & Matan Kolerman-Shemer, 2024. "Regression discontinuity aggregation, with an application to the union effects on inequality," Papers 2501.00428, arXiv.org.
    9. Savio, Giulia, 2024. "Beyond the party push: Gender differences in voters’ persuasion," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Emilia Brito Rebolledo & Jesse Bruhn & Thea How Choon & E. Anna Weber, 2024. "Gender Composition and Group Behavior: Evidence from US City Councils," NBER Working Papers 33223, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Niklas Potrafke & Luisa Dörr & Klaus Gründler & Tuuli Tähtinen & Luisa Dörr, 2025. "Female Leaders and the Representation of Women in Government," CESifo Working Paper Series 11851, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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