Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250642 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14981
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper documents an important but mostly overlooked reason for female underrepresentation in politics: gender gaps in the recontest likelihood of candidates. Using hand-collected data on 116,185 candidates in four consecutive local council elections (2001-2016) in a German state, we provide evidence for a gender recontest gap among both incumbent and non-incumbent candidates. Female candidates are 4 to 5 percentage points less likely than male candidates to run again conditional on previous candidacy. Studying mechanisms, we find that women are likely held back by incompatibilities between family obligations and political duties as well as a culture of male dominance in local politics.
Subjects: 
gender
political selection
persistence
local councils
candidacy
JEL: 
D72
D78
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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