Abstract
Do female policy makers encourage the production and investment of renewable energy compared to their male counterparts? Using instrumental variables, we conduct a cross-country analysis of 41 high-income countries for the years 1990 and 1997-2015 using quota laws and women’s suffrage as instruments for women’s participation in the parliament. We find that a 1 percentage point increase in the proportion of women in the legislature increases renewable energy production between 0.74 and 1.64 percentage points. This study suggests that fostering policies that boost women’s participation in policy-making positions is beneficial, especially when considering the positive spillover to other countries.
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Natalia D'Agosti
Early Career Researcher
I am an Early Career Researcher in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. My area of interest are energy economics, environmental economics, and climate change.