Women in cabinet and public health spending
Evidence across countries
JournalEconomics of Governance
AuthorsAstghik Mavisakalyan
PublishedAugust 2014
PublisherSpringer, Berlin Heidelberg
DOI10.1007/s10101-014-0141-x
ISBN086831 574 5
ISSN1435-6104
Number of Pagespp 281–304
Volume15/3
This article studies the effect of women’s cabinet representation on public health policy outcomes. Based on a large sample of countries in the year 2000, the analysis shows that an increase in the share of women in cabinet is associated with an increase in public health spending. There is also an indication of a decrease in the gender gap in life expectancies in places with higher cabinet representation of women. The endogeneity of women’s cabinet representation is accounted for by using the share of daughters that a national leader parents as an instrument.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.