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Why are Women less Democratic than Men? Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries

Author

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  • Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Maty Konte

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

A substantial literature has examined the determinants of support for democracy and although existing work has found a gender gap in democratic attitudes, there have been no attempts to explain it. In this paper we try to understand why females are less supportive of democracy than males in a number of countries. Using data for 20 Sub-Saharan African countries, we test whether the gap is due to individual differences previously ignored or to country-wide characteristics. We find that controlling for individual characteristics does not offset the gender gap, but our results indicate that the gap is eroded by high levels of human development and political rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa & Maty Konte, 2014. "Why are Women less Democratic than Men? Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," Post-Print hal-01474424, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01474424
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.01.005
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Support for democracy by gender (20 S-S African countries)
      by UDADISI in UDADISI on 2013-04-15 14:03:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Périlleux, Anaïs & Szafarz, Ariane, 2015. "Women Leaders and Social Performance: Evidence from Financial Cooperatives in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 437-452.
    3. Konte, M., 2014. "Gender difference in support for democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?," MERIT Working Papers 009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Maty Konte & Stephan Klasen, 2016. "Gender difference in support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do social institutions matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 55-86, April.
    5. Boris Branisa & Carolina Cardona, 2015. "Social Institutions and Gender Inequality in Fragile States: Are they relevant for the Post-MDG Debate?," Development Research Working Paper Series 06/2015, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    6. Williams, Kevin, 2017. "Do remittances improve political institutions? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 65-75.
    7. Djemaï, Elodie & Kevane, Michael, 2023. "Effects of education on political engagement in rural Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Konte, Maty & Osei Kwadwo, Victor & Zinyemba, Tatenda, 2019. "Women's political and reproductive health empowerment in Africa: A literature review," MERIT Working Papers 2019-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender gap; Gender gap; institutions; policy priorities; support for democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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