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Do female parliamentarians improve environmental quality? Cross-country evidence

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  • Simplice A. Asongu

    (Yaounde, Cameroon)

  • Raufhon Salahodjaev

    (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

Abstract

This study explores the empowerment of women in politics on the environmental sustainability. Using data for the period 2015-2019 from 179 countries, we investigate the link between representation of women in parliament and the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). To explore the causal effect, we rely on gender quotas, language intensity and land suitability for agriculture as instruments for the share of women in parliament. Our results suggest that 10 percentage points increase in instrumented proportion of women in parliament leads to 7.1 points increase in the EPI. The results remain robust to a number of robustness checks.

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  • Simplice A. Asongu & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2022. "Do female parliamentarians improve environmental quality? Cross-country evidence," Working Papers 22/001, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    • Handle: RePEc:exs:wpaper:22/001
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    Cited by:

    1. Matheus Koengkan & José Alberto Fuinhas & Anna Auza & Daniela Castilho & Volkan Kaymaz, 2024. "Environmental Governance and Gender Inclusivity: Analyzing the Interplay of PM2.5 and Women’s Representation in Political Leadership in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-32, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    environmental performance; women in parliament;

    JEL classification:

    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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