Does gendered representation in national legislatures promote substantive representation and human development? Evidence from the developing world

Abstract

Despite the increase in the share of women in national legislatures in the developing world, scholars are still debating if gender-diversified legislatures promote women-friendly policies or negate women's empowerment attributed to intersectional demands, the absence of a critical mass, and continued gendered patriarchy. Previous studies also lack generalizability as they are based on single-country studies or cross-national research with samples restricted by region or constrained to affluent nation-states. To resolve the conundrum pertaining to understanding the nature of substantive representation in the non-Western world, a panel study of 64 developing countries from 2005-2019 is employed. The study finds evidence that increased legislative representation by women is positively associated with the implementation of policies that promote higher levels of gender equality, social inclusion, and human development. The results imply that women's legislative presence in the global south has significant contributions in terms of affecting policy outcomes that improve the human condition.

Does representation of women in parliament promote economic growth? Considering evidence from Europe and Central Asia

“…Apart from governance and institutions, female political empowerment may increase economic progress via human capital accumulation. Cross-national research shows that female political empowerment results in improved education outcomes (Dutta and Maus, 2021), school completion rates (Hornset and de Soysa, 2022), and social inclusion (Tusalem, 2022). Recent research on 40 Sub-Saharan African countries between 1995 and 2014 shows that female representation in parliament has a positive effect on public health expenditure (Fokam et al, 2021).…”

More Equality for Women Does Mean Less War: Descriptive Representation, Legislative Votes, and International Conflict

“…Moreover, I provide a new research design and data for identifying the causal effects of women's representation on a wide variety of outcomes in the social sciences. Women's legislative representation is shown to correlate with various outcomes at a country level, including international trade and agreements (Betz, Fortunato, and O'brien 2021;Imamverdiyeva and Shea 2022;Park and Shin 2023), corruption (Debski et al 2018;Dollar, Fisman, and Gatti 2001;Esarey andSchwindt-Bayer 2018, 2019;Jha and Sarangi 2018), foreign aid (Breuning 2001;Hicks, Hicks, and Maldonado 2016;Tusalem 2022;Yoon and Moon 2019), human rights (Mechkova, Dahlum, and Petrarca 2023;Melander 2005b), welfare policies (Bolzendahl and Brooks 2007;Kittilson 2008;Patton and Fording 2020), environmental protection (Atchison and Down 2019;Mavisakalyan and Tarverdi 2019), and even capital punishment (Moreland and Watson 2016).…”