Procurement for Empowerment: The Impact of Female Decision-Makers in Reproductive Health Supply Chains

Forthcoming at Production and Operations Management

Darden Business School Working Paper

40 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2023 Last revised: 11 Feb 2024

See all articles by Amir Karimi

Amir Karimi

Alvarez College of Business, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Dwaipayan Roy

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Date Written: November 30, 2023

Abstract

Access to contraceptives empowers women to not only exercise their reproductive rights and avert unintended pregnancies, but also to prevent a spectrum of adverse societal and health outcomes (e.g., unfulfilled career aspirations, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths.) However, in low-, and middle-income countries (LMICs), where resources are limited and women are under-represented as decision-makers in national governments, reproductive health has not traditionally been prioritized. Motivated by past research showing that female decision-makers tend to prioritize issues in ways that better reflect women’s needs and preferences, we examine the relationship between female decision-makers in national governments and contraceptive procurement. Specifically, we focus on female decision-makers at two levels, as health ministers and parliamentarians, and examine their impact on the procurement quantity of contraceptives by LMICs. Our empirical analysis, based on a comprehensive compilation of data across six distinct sources, shows that a female (vs. male) health minister is associated with an average 66% increase in the procurement quantity of contraceptives. Notably, this relationship is strengthened with an increase in the proportion of female representatives in national parliaments. Together, these findings demonstrate that female (vs. male) decision-makers exhibit greater commitment to contraceptive procurement, an issue that has a disproportionate impact on women’s health and well-being. As ensuring good health and well-being for all and increasing gender parity in leadership positions are two of the key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our study on examining the relationship between female decision-makers and contraceptive procurement constitutes a timely and consequential line of inquiry.

Keywords: Reproductive health supply chains, contraceptive procurement, diversity and inclusion, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Suggested Citation

Karimi, Amir and Roy, Dwaipayan, Procurement for Empowerment: The Impact of Female Decision-Makers in Reproductive Health Supply Chains (November 30, 2023). Forthcoming at Production and Operations Management, Darden Business School Working Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4649624

Amir Karimi (Contact Author)

Alvarez College of Business, The University of Texas at San Antonio ( email )

ONE UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX 78249
United States

Dwaipayan Roy

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

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