Women and Budget Deficits*

Abstract

Abstract If women have different economic preferences than men, then female economic and political empowerment is likely to change economic policy, and in turn perhaps macroeconomic outcomes. In this paper, we narrow the focus to fiscal policy, and we investigate whether female enfranchisement affects government budget deficits. In a difference‐in‐differences regression for Swiss cantonal panel data, we find that the inclusion of women in the electorate has reduced deficits by a statistically significant amount.