Gender and Public Goods Provision in Tamil Nadu's Village Governments

Kiran Gajwani and Xiaobo Zhang

The World Bank Economic Review, 2015, vol. 29, issue 2, 234-261

Abstract: Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we investigate political reservations for women and whether the gender of village government leaders influences the provision of village public goods. A knowledge test of village government presidents and a survey about the interaction between village presidents and higher-level officials reveal that female village government presidents have much lower knowledge of the village government system than do their male counterparts and have significantly less contact with higher-level government officials. Although male and female presidents provide similar amounts of some public goods, we find strong evidence that village governments led by a woman built fewer schools and roads—two public goods that require relatively more contact and coordination with higher-level officials.

Date: 2015
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Working Paper: Gender and public goods provision in Tamil Nadu's village governments (2014)
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