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Congruence of female and male legislators with the preferences of women and men

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Listed:
  • Kläy, Yves
  • Eichenberger, Reiner
  • Portmann, Marco
  • Stadelmann, David

Abstract

We leverage the institutional framework in Switzerland to discern the revealed preferences of female and male voters for various legislative proposals. We examine whether female or male legislators’ votes in parliament are more congruent with women’s or men’s revealed preferences for identical legislative proposals. Our analysis of 47,527 matches between legislators and their voters reveals no significant difference in how closely female and male legislators match the preferences of women and men, particularly, when accounting for party affiliations. We conclude that female legislators do not demonstrate higher congruence with women’s preferences than their male counterparts in parliament.

Suggested Citation

  • Kläy, Yves & Eichenberger, Reiner & Portmann, Marco & Stadelmann, David, 2024. "Congruence of female and male legislators with the preferences of women and men," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:242:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524003380
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111854
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Garrett, Thomas A, 1999. "A Test of Shirking under Legislative and Citizen Vote: The Case of State Lottery Adoption," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 189-208, April.
    2. Stutzer, Alois & Baltensperger, Michael & Meier, Armando N., 2019. "Overstrained citizens? The number of ballot propositions and the quality of the decision process in direct democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 483-500.
    3. Hessami, Zohal & da Fonseca, Mariana Lopes, 2020. "Female political representation and substantive effects on policies: A literature review," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Stadelmann, David & Portmann, Marco & Eichenberger, Reiner, 2015. "Income and policy choices: Evidence from parliamentary decisions and referenda," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 117-120.
    5. John Carey & Simon Hix, 2013. "District magnitude and representation of the majority’s preferences: a comment and reinterpretation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 139-148, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Representation; Gender in politics; Political behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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