Women in Politics and Wast Management. Evidence from Italian Municipalities

anna laura baraldi (università della campania L. Vanvitelli)
claudia cantabene (università della campania L. Vanvitelli)
Alessandro De Iudicibus (università della campania L. Vanvitelli)

Abstract

This paper analyses the issue, unexplored to date, dealing with the role of females
politicians in the efficacy of the selective waste collection. The different attitude towards recycling between men and women may affect the amount of selective waste
at the municipal level, therefore, an increase in women’s political representation can
be expected to improve the effectiveness of the waste management. We test for this
consequence in Italy, exploiting an election law (Law 215/2012) whereby voters can
express two preferences (instead of one) only if they are of different gender. We take
Law 215 as an exogenous shock to the percentage of female municipal councilors. An
instrumental variable analysis finds that a 10 p.p. increase in the percentage of female
councilors increases the percentage in selective waste collection by 3.7% and the total
tonnes in selective waste by 341.

Download the file