Women Legislators and Economic Performance

Sonia Bhalotra, Thushyanthan Baskaran and Yogesh Uppal

No 16605, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: There has been a phenomenal global increase in the proportion of women in politics in the last two decades, but there is no evidence of how this influences economic perfor- mance. We investigate this using data on competitive elections to India's state assemblies, leveraging close elections to isolate causal effects. We find significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women and no evidence of negative spillovers to neighbouring male-led constituencies, consistent with net growth. Probing mechanisms, we  find evidence consistent with women legislators being more efficacious, less corrupt and less vulnerable to political opportunism.

Date: 2021-10
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Related works:
Journal Article: Women legislators and economic performance (2024)
Working Paper: Women Legislators and Economic Performance (2021)
Working Paper: Women Legislators and Economic Performance (2021)
Working Paper: Women Legislators and Economic Performance (2018)
Working Paper: Women legislators and economic performance (2018)
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