Women's management in local government: The effects of substantive representation on welfare service efficiency

Abstract

Spanish legislation on gender quotas in electoral candidate lists implies the effective incorporation of women into politics. This measure has created interest in the impact of this law on public service management (substantive representation), especially welfare services. This is due to the influence these services have on work-life balance. Hence, the objective of this research is to determine the impact of women politicians on the efficiency of municipal welfare services. We estimate efficiency levels in public social service management using non-parametric techniques over the last three local government legislatures in Spain. We then use truncated regression models to estimate the impact of women's substantive representation on these efficiency levels. The results confirm that more women in local government and female leadership in the opposition result in better levels of efficiency through reduced spending. In contrast, female leadership in the government and many women in the opposition reduce efficiency by supporting spending without increasing welfare services.