What is the association between women’s political participation and public budged allocation to education and health?
A subnational-level analysis based on the Peruvian case
Abstract
This research analyses the association between women’s political participation at the subnational level and public budget allocation to policies of education and health in Peru, a middle-income Andean country. This study uses a large panel dataset with information from more than 1600 Peruvian municipalities between 2008 and 2014. Results based on dynamic econometric model estimations using the method of Arellano and Bond (2011) show a positive and statistically significant association between higher women’s political participation and higher proportions of public expenditure on policies of education and health, as well as on policies of ‘human development’ that combine these two abovementioned kinds of policies. Results also show that this association tends to be higher in districts with lower levels of economic development. This research contributes to the relatively scarce Latin-American literature on the relationship between women’s political participation at the subnational level and budget allocation to policies related to basic dimensions of human development such as education and health. This is particularly relevant inasmuch Latin America is a region in which the average proportion of female local authorities is not higher than 15%.
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