Adjustments in municipal fiscal crises. Are they different according to the gender of the mayor?

Women in Spanish Municipal Councils and Budgetary Policies

“…Municipalities governed by female mayors had significantly lower levels of administrative expenditures in the short term of 12.70 ( p < .1) (LSDVC) or 17.66 ( p < .05) (QML) euros per capita. These lower levels of administrative expenses confirm the conclusions of Cabaleiro and Buch (2018) on the fiscal behavior of Spanish municipalities in a similar time interval. They pointed out that female mayors achieved improvements in administrative performance in the management of municipal public spending.…”

“…However, neither Gagliarducci and Paserman (2012) nor Ferreira and Gyourko (2014) found any effect on the amount and composition of public spending attributable to the gender of the major in, respectively, Italian and U.S. municipalities. Cabaleiro and Buch (2018) found that the gender of the mayor influenced cuts in social and non-social spending and the level of tax revenues, but had no effect on total current expenditure in fiscal crisis situations. The different preferences in relation to public spending policies when there is no change in the spending level suggest lower expenditures on other public policies and/or improvements in administrative performance.…”

“…Hernández-Nicolás et al (2018) examined a sample of municipalities between the years 2002 and 2010 and found that municipalities with female mayors had lower annual interest and debt repayment obligations and greater spending on security, protection, and social promotion policies than municipalities with male mayors. Cabaleiro and Buch (2018) analyzed the relationship between mayor’s gender and budgetary cuts in situations of fiscal crisis. They found that, although gender of the mayor did not seem to have affected the level of total current expenditures of Spanish municipalities, it influenced cuts in social and non-social spending and the level of tax revenues.…”

Female politicians in municipal councils and fiscal performance

“…Based on these arguments and from the perspective of decision making by male and female leaders, recent studies analyzed the gender gap in relation to the performance of public policies on taxes, expenses, budgetary deficits, and debt (Chattopadhyay & Duflo, 2004; Rehavi, 2007; Gagliarducci & Paserman, 2012; Park, 2013; Bhalotra & Clots‐Fig ueras, 2014; Ferreira & Gyourko, 2014; Holman, 2014a; Funk & Gathmann, 2015; Cabaleiro‐Casal & Buch‐Gómez, 2018; Suzuki & Avellaneda, 2018). Gender differences between leaders in these issues, together with the various explanations in the gender literature of running fiscal imbalances (Krogstrup & Wälti, 2011), the gender gap in relation to the assumption of financial risks (Dohmen et al., 2011; Charness & Gneezy, 2012; Ertac & Gurdal, 2012; Opstrup & Villadsen, 2015; Suzuki & Avellaneda, 2018), and the gender differences in performance required to assume leadership positions (Eagly et al., 1995), can alter the fiscal performance of political institutions.…”

“…At the local government level, the literature shows that the qualities of the mayor, including gender, can have an effect on the fiscal performance of political institutions. Some studies have empirically demonstrated that the gender of a mayor affects public expenditure, the collection of taxes (Avellaneda, 2009, 2016; Park, 2014; Freier & Thomasius, 2016), budgetary deficits (Cabaleiro‐Casal & Buch‐Gómez, 2018), and debt (Hernández‐Nicolás et al., 2018). A recent study undertaken in Spain analyzing the influence of the mayor's gender on financial issues between 2002 and 2010 found that when these institutions were governed by female mayors, they had lower annual interest and debt repayment obligations (Hernández‐Nicolás et al., 2018) and therefore that the fiscal performance of these institutions could be positively affected.…”