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Women and Budget Deficits *
Author(s) -
Krogstrup Signe,
Wälti Sébastien
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2011.01655.x
Subject(s) - economics , deficit spending , keynesian economics , macroeconomics , monetary economics , debt
If women have different economic preferences than men, then female economic and political empowerment is likely to change economic policy, and in turn perhaps macroeconomic outcomes. In this paper, we narrow the focus to fiscal policy, and we investigate whether female enfranchisement affects government budget deficits. In a difference‐in‐differences regression for Swiss cantonal panel data, we find that the inclusion of women in the electorate has reduced deficits by a statistically significant amount.