Gender and Public Goods Provision in Tamil Nadu's Village Governments

Gajwani, Kiran ; Zhang, Xiaobo

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: gender;    public goods provision;    local governance;    village government;    gender reservations;   

DOI  :  10.1093/wber/lht033

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we investigate political reservations for women and whether the gender of village government leaders influences the provision of village public goods. A knowledge test of village government presidents and a survey about the interaction between village presidents and higher-level officials reveal that female village government presidents have much lower knowledge of the village government system than do their male counterparts and have significantly less contact with higher-level government officials. Although male and female presidents provide similar amounts of some public goods, we find strong evidence that village governments led by a woman built fewer schools and roads—two public goods that require relatively more contact and coordination with higher-level officials.