The Power of Political Voice: Women's Political Representation and Crime in India

Lakshmi Iyer, Anandi Mani (), Prachi Mishra () and Petia Topalova
Additional contact information
Anandi Mani: University of Warwick
Prachi Mishra: Research Department, IMF

No 11-092, Harvard Business School Working Papers from Harvard Business School

Abstract: Using state-level variation in the timing of political reforms, we find that an increase in female representation in local government induces a large and significant rise in documented crimes against women in India. Our evidence suggests that this increase is good news, driven primarily by greater reporting rather than greater incidence of such crimes. In contrast, we find no increase in crimes against men or gender-neutral crimes. We also examine the effectiveness of alternative forms of political representation: large scale membership of women in local councils affects crime against them more than their presence in higher level leadership positions.

Keywords: crime; women's empowerment; minority representation; voice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J15 J16 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2011-03, Revised 2011-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-dev, nep-hme, nep-law 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 Power of Political Voice: Women's Political Representation and Crime in India (2012)
Working Paper: The Power of Political Voice: Women's Political Representation and Crime in India (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hbs:wpaper:11-092

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