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The effect of female leadership on contracting from Capitol Hill to Main Street

Author

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  • Brogaard, Jonathan
  • Gerasimova, Nataliya
  • Rohrer, Maximilian

Abstract

This paper provides novel evidence that female politicians increase the proportion of US government procurement contracts allocated to women-owned firms. For identification, we use a regression discontinuity design on a sample of mixed-gender elections in the US House of Representatives. The effect grows over a female representative's tenure and concentrates in female representatives who are on powerful congressional committees. Changes in the pool of and behavior by government contractors cannot explain the result. The more gender-balanced representation in government contracting is not associated with economic costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Brogaard, Jonathan & Gerasimova, Nataliya & Rohrer, Maximilian, 2024. "The effect of female leadership on contracting from Capitol Hill to Main Street," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:155:y:2024:i:c:s0304405x24000400
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103817
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Small business; Women-owned firms; Government procurement contracts; Female politicians; Gender gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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