African Mining Economies and the Gender Gap in Political Participation

54 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2024

See all articles by Anja Benshaul-Tolonen

Anja Benshaul-Tolonen

Barnard College - Department of Economics

Beatrice Gibertini

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; VU University Amsterdam

Maty Konte

World Bank - International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Date Written: March 12, 2024

Abstract

There is a significant gender gap in political participation in Africa. At the same time, many African economies are heavily reliant on traditionally male-dominated extractive industries. We investigate whether mining activities influence the gender gap in political participation at the local level. To do so, we use Afrobarometer data for over 150,000 respondents merged with precise geo-located information on mining sites in multiple difference-in-difference estimations. We find the gender gap decreases across four dimensions of political participation: in proximity of mineral deposits with ongoing production, the gap in discussing politics drops 18.4%, voting 67%, attending community meetings 28%, accepting women as leaders 95%. These effects are driven by women near active deposits being more politically active than those living further away. However, we detect no change in the gender gap in attending protests, although this gap does widen in high conflict areas. The results are comparable in an alternative, strictly exogenous identification strategy where we predict changes in mining activities with international commodity prices. The main results hold in areas with net inward, net outward, or net stable migration. We explore several mechanisms and find employment, but not community grievances, to be an important channel explaining changes in women's political involvement.

Keywords: Mining, Female Political Participation, Conflict, Migration, Africa

JEL Classification: J16, O13, O55

Suggested Citation

Benshaul-Tolonen, Anja and Gibertini, Beatrice and Konte, Maty, African Mining Economies and the Gender Gap in Political Participation (March 12, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4756923 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4756923

Anja Benshaul-Tolonen (Contact Author)

Barnard College - Department of Economics ( email )

3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

Beatrice Gibertini

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne ( email )

ISJPS
5, Place du Panthéon
Paris, 75005
France

VU University Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, North Holland 1081 HV
Netherlands

Maty Konte

World Bank - International Finance Corporation (IFC) ( email )

2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
94
Abstract Views
327
Rank
592,642
PlumX Metrics