Clearing the Air: Women in Politics and Air Pollution

Baraldi, Anna Laura and Fosco, Giovanni (2024): Clearing the Air: Women in Politics and Air Pollution.

Abstract

Differing attitudes towards environmental issues between men and women as policymakers may affect policies and actions. Accordingly, this research analyses the issue of the causal relationship between women politicians and the level of air pollution. The analysis tests for this in Italy, exploiting a gender quota measure (Law 215/2012) as an exogenous shock to the percentage of female municipal councilors. Difference-indifferences instrumental variable approach finds that an increase in the percentage of female councilors decreases the maximum number of days in which at least one type of monitoring stations (among all the stations installed in the provincial capital municipality) has detected an excess of PM10 with respect to its daily limit. This research provides evidence of the most likely mechanism driving the results by proving that an increase in female officeholders has a positive impact on a number of environmental friendly policies and measures (as the bicycle lanes, the urban green, the bike- and carsharing services, district heating and traffic blockage) aimed at reducing the harmful air particles.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Air pollution, Gender quotas, Municipal elections, Female politicians
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C26 - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation; D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q53 - Air Pollution ; Water Pollution ; Noise ; Hazardous Waste ; Solid Waste ; Recycling

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