Working Paper: NBER ID: w30103
Authors: Sonia R. Bhalotra; Damian Clarke; Joseph F. Gomes; Atheendar Venkataramani
Abstract: Millions of women continue to die during and soon after childbirth, even where the knowledge and resources to avoid this are available. We posit that raising the share of women in parliament can trigger action. Leveraging the timing of gender quota legislation across developing countries, we identify sharp sustained reductions of 8–12 percent in maternal mortality. Investigating mechanisms, we find that gender quotas lead to increases in percentage points of 5–8 in skilled birth attendance and 4–8 in prenatal care utilization, alongside a decline in fertility of 6–7 percent and an increase in the schooling of young women of about 0.5 years. The results are robust to numerous robustness checks. They suggest a new policy tool for tackling maternal mortality.
Keywords: Maternal Mortality; Women's Political Power; Gender Quotas; Public Health
JEL Codes: I14; I15; O15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increase in share of women in parliament (J16) | reduction in MMR (C59) |
| Gender quotas (J16) | reduction in maternal mortality ratios (MMR) (O15) |
| Gender quotas (J16) | increase in skilled birth attendance (J13) |
| Gender quotas (J16) | increase in prenatal care utilization (J13) |
| Gender quotas (J16) | decline in fertility rates (J13) |
| Gender quotas (J16) | increase in young women's schooling (I24) |