Women's Representation and Public Spending

This paper studies whether the degree of women’s representation in Swedish local councils affects local public expenditure patterns. Theoretically, the individual preferences of elected representatives may have an impact on public expenditure if full policy commitment is not feasible. To empirically address the question, I first analyze the preferences expressed by elected local council representatives using survey data. This permits me to make precise predictions about the effects of women’s representation on spending. The subsequent panel study on the composition of public spending in Swedish municipalities supports the predictions derived from the survey.