The Enfranchisement of Women and the Welfare State

Graziella Bertocchi ()

No 6396, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We offer a rationale for the decision to extend the franchise to women within a politico-economic model where men are richer than women, women display a higher preference for public goods, and women?s disenfranchisement carries a societal cost. We first derive the tax rate chosen by the male median voter when women are disenfranchised. Next we show that, as industrialization raises the reward to mental labour relative to physical labour, women?s relative wage increases. When the cost of disenfranchisement becomes higher than the cost of the higher tax rate which applies under universal enfranchisement, the male median voter is better off extending the franchise to women. A consequent expansion of the size of government is only to be expected in societies with a relatively high cost of disenfranchisement. We empirically test the implications of the model over the 1870-1930 period. We proxy the gender wage gap with the level of per capita income and the cost of disenfranchisement with the presence of Catholicism, which is associated with a more traditional view of women?s role and thus a lower cost. The gender gap in the preferences for public goods is proxied by the availability of divorce, which implies marital instability and a more vulnerable economic position for women. Consistently with the model?s predictions, women suffrage is affected positively by per capita income and negatively by the presence of Catholicism and the availability of divorce, while women suffrage increases the size of government only in non-Catholic countries.

Keywords: Culture; Divorce; Family; Inequality; Public goods; Welfare state; Women suffrage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H50 J16 N40 O11 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The enfranchisement of women and the welfare state (2011)
Working Paper: The Enfranchisement of Women and the Welfare State (2008)
Working Paper: The Enfranchisement of Women and the Welfare State (2008)
Working Paper: The Enfranchisement of Women and the Welfare State (2007)
Working Paper: The Enfranchisement of Women and the Welfare State (2007)
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