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Gender Differences in Cooperative Environments? Evidence from the U.S. Congress

Author

Listed:
  • Gagliarducci, Stefano

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

  • Paserman, M. Daniele

    (Boston University)

Abstract

This paper uses data on bill sponsorship and cosponsorship in the U.S. House of Representatives to estimate gender differences in cooperative behavior. We employ a number of econometric methodologies to address the potential selection of female representatives into electoral districts with distinct preferences for cooperativeness, including regression discontinuity and matching. After accounting for selection, we find that among Democrats there is no significant gender gap in the number of cosponsors recruited, but women-sponsored bills tend to have fewer cosponsors from the opposite party. On the other hand, we find robust evidence that Republican women recruit more cosponsors and attract more bipartisan support on the bills that they sponsor. This is particularly true on bills that address issues more relevant for women, over which female Republicans have possibly preferences that are closer to those of Democrats. We interpret these results as evidence that cooperation is mostly driven by a commonality of interest, rather than gender per se.

Suggested Citation

  • Gagliarducci, Stefano & Paserman, M. Daniele, 2016. "Gender Differences in Cooperative Environments? Evidence from the U.S. Congress," IZA Discussion Papers 10128, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10128
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    Cited by:

    1. Carozzi, Felipe & Gago, Andrés, 2023. "Who promotes gender-sensitive policies?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 371-405.
    2. Gagliarducci, Stefano & Paserman, M. Daniele & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2019. "Hurricanes, Climate Change Policies and Electoral Accountability," IZA Discussion Papers 12334, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Andreoli, Francesco & Manzoni, Elena & Margotti, Margherita, 2022. "Women at work: Gender quotas, municipal elections and local spending," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Neal, Zachary & Domagalski, Rachel & Yan, Xiaoqin, 2020. "Party Control as a Context for Homophily in Collaborations among US House Representatives, 1981 -- 2015," OSF Preprints qwdxs, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    U.S. Congress; cooperativeness; bipartisanship; gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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