Working Paper: NBER ID: w28397
Authors: Francesco Decarolis; Raymond Fisman; Paolo Pinotti; Silvia Vannutelli; Yongxiang Wang
Abstract: We examine the correlation between gender and bureaucratic corruption using two distinct datasets, one from Italy and a second from China. In each case, we find that women are far less likely to be investigated for corruption than men. In our Italian data, female procurement officials are 34 percent less likely than men to be investigated for corruption by enforcement authorities; in China, female prefectural leaders are as much as 75 percent less likely to be arrested for corruption than men. While these represent correlations (rather than definitive causal effects), both are very robust relationships, which survive the inclusion of fine-grained individual and geographic controls.
Keywords: gender; bureaucratic corruption; Italy; China
JEL Codes: D73; J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Gender in Italy (J16) | Likelihood of being investigated for corruption (H57) |
| Gender in China (J16) | Likelihood of being arrested for corruption (H57) |