Women as Policy Makers and Donors: Female Legislators and Foreign Aid
35 Pages Posted: 11 May 2014 Last revised: 17 Jul 2015
Date Written: July 2015
Abstract
This paper investigates whether the gender composition of national legislatures in donor countries impacts the level, composition, and pattern of foreign aid. We provide evidence that the election of female legislators leads countries to increase aid both in total and as a percentage of GDP. Consistent with existing research examining domestic expenditures, we find that the empowerment of women in national legislatures is associated with a reallocation of aid flows in favor of education and health-related projects. These increased flows occur predominately through bilateral aid and reflect a redistribution of aid towards developing countries.
Keywords: foreign aid; female representation in government; gender preferences
JEL Classification: F35, J16, D70
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation