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Social Norms and Governance: The Behavioral Response to Female Leadership

Author

Listed:
  • Pushkar Maitra
  • Tarun Jain
  • Lata Gangadharan

Abstract

Women in leadership positions make different policy choices compared to men. An increase in the proportion of female leaders can therefore alter both the nature of governance as well as the types of public services provided. This paper uses survey and experimental data from 40 Indian villages to examine the following questions: First, do males and females respond differently to women as leaders, and what is the reaction of women leaders to mens perception? Second, to what extent is behavior towards leaders influenced by experience with female leaders? Finally, what are the reasons for male backlash against womens leadership, and does it persist over time? It finds evidence of a significant male backlash against female leaders. The results suggest that resistance to women leaders is due to violation of social norms. It also found that increased exposure to female leaders reduces the extent of bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Pushkar Maitra & Tarun Jain & Lata Gangadharan, 2015. "Social Norms and Governance: The Behavioral Response to Female Leadership," Working Papers id:7687, eSocialSciences.
  • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:7687
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Utteeyo Dasgupta & Subha Mani & Smriti Sharma & Saurabh Singhal, 2016. "Eliciting risk preferences: Firefighting in the field," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-47, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Lata Gangadharan & Tarun Jain & Pushkar Maitra & Joseph Vecci, 2016. "The behavioural implications of women's empowerment programmes," WIDER Working Paper Series 064, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Dasgupta, Utteeyo & Mani, Subha & Sharma, Smriti & Singhal, Saurabh, 2016. "Eliciting Risk Preferences: Firefighting in the Field," IZA Discussion Papers 9765, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Zehnder, Christian & Herz, Holger & Bonardi, Jean-Philippe, 2016. "A productive clash of cultures : injecting economics into leadership research," FSES Working Papers 478, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    5. Sonia Bhalotra & Irma Clots-Figueras & Lakshmi Iyer, "undated". "Pathbreakers? Women’s Electoral Success and Future Political Participation," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-277, Boston University - Department of Economics.

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