Full Citation

Title: The Politics of Death: The Effect of Women's Descriptive Representation on Mortality

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2017

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3001044

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Although many studies have found that female legislators pursue policies important to women, we know relatively little concerning the effect of women’s descriptive representation (WDR) on women’s quality of life. We address this question by examining the relationship between the election of women state legislators and public health. Specifically, we estimate the effect of WDR on premature death rates from 1981-2010, utilizing an error correction model and a novel instrumental variable approach to mitigate endogeneity. We find that WDR serves to improve the well-being of both women and men. However, the effect of WDR is significantly stronger for women (compared to men) in states that play a larger role in the provision of healthcare. Overall, our results suggest that policy remedies aimed at improving the severe underrepresentation of women in government may help improve the relatively low ranking of the United States on indicators of public health.

Url: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3001044&download=yes

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Patton, Dana J; Fording, Richard C

Publisher: University of Alabama

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Other

Countries: