Maternal Mortality and Women's Political Participation

Sonia Bhalotra, Damian Clarke, Joseph Gomes and Atheendar Venkataramani ()
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Atheendar Venkataramani: Massachusetts General Hospital

No 11590, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Raising women's political participation leads to faster maternal mortality decline. We estimate that the introduction of quotas for women in parliament results in a 9 to 12% decline in maternal mortality. In terms of mechanisms, it also leads to an 8 to 11% increase in skilled birth attendance and a 6 to 11% increase in prenatal care utilization. We find reinforcing evidence from the period in which the United States experienced rapid declines in maternal mortality. The historical decline made feasible by the introduction of antibiotics was significantly greater in states that had longer exposure to women's suffrage.

Keywords: gender; maternal mortality; suffrage; women's political representation; quotas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 I15 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2018-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2023, 21 (5), 2172–2208

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Related works:
Working Paper: Maternal mortality and women’s political participation (2021)
Working Paper: Maternal Mortality and Women's Political Participation (2020)
Working Paper: Maternal Mortality and Women’s Political Participation (2018)
Working Paper: Maternal mortality and women's political participation (2018)
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