Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272610 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15983
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We investigate how female representation impacts policymaking using the example of child care and new hand-collected data on local council elections in Bavaria. RDD estimations (mixed-gender races for last party-specific council seats) show that an additional female councilor accelerates the expansion of public child care by 40%. We also document an important nonlinearity: an additional woman accelerates the expansion of child care only in councils with few women. Council meeting minutes reveal that women can be effective in councils despite being a non-pivotal minority because they change "the conversation".
Subjects: 
gender composition
political selection
local councils
child care
JEL: 
D72
D78
H70
J13
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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