Female leaders and gendered laws: A long-term global perspective
| Published date | 01 November 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/01925121221095439 |
| Author | Hoyong Jung |
| Date | 01 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121221095439
International Political Science Review
2023, Vol. 44(5) 710 –728
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/01925121221095439
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Female leaders and gendered laws:
A long-term global perspective
Hoyong Jung
Department of Economics, Kookmin University, South Korea
Abstract
Leaders do matter in formulating legal foundations that affect society’s path of development. If these laws
are gender discriminatory, they hinder the development of groups adversely affected by the system. This
study empirically examines the relationship between female leaders and gendered laws in 190 countries
between 1970 and 2020. We find that female leaders have been positively associated with enhancing gender
equality in the legal system over the past five decades. Their effects on gender equality are heterogeneous,
with higher positive impacts when their terms of office are longer. The effects are noticeable both in regions
of high economic and social development and high legal gender disparity. Moreover, the results remain
robust under multiple specifications of the period. Our findings suggest that individual female leaders can
play a crucial role in shaping legal equality between men and women.
Keywords
Gender, women, female leader, gendered law, legal equality
Introduction
Leaders exert great influence over a variety of social areas based on their immense authority (Jones
and Olken, 2005). Historically, political leadership has been considered the domain of men; there
are few female leaders even as gender equality has advanced. Women remain underrepresented
despite progress in their representation in national governments. As of 2021, only 6% of elected
heads of state (9 out of 152) and 7% of heads of government (13 out of 193) are women (Inter-
Parliamentary Union, 2021).
Gender inequality has come to the fore of social discussions following a surge of evidence on
the extensive costs to society. Gender discrimination embedded in laws and regulations poses a
particular obstacle to enhancing women’s rights and achieving gender equality. Female leaders can
change these circumstances and have different effects on society compared with male leaders
because of their gender specificity (Duflo, 2012; Hessami and Da Fonseca, 2020). They can reform
gender discriminatory laws – which play a crucial role in dictating society’s path – to enhance
women’s legal rights. Because effective rights are based on actionable laws and institutions
Corresponding author:
Hoyong Jung, Department of Economics, Kookmin University, 77, Jeongneung-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02707, Korea.
Email: ghdydwjd1@gmail.com
1095439IPS0010.1177/01925121221095439International Political Science ReviewJung
research-article2022
Original Research Article
Jung 711
(Acemoglu et al., 2005; North, 1990), it is important to embed gender equality into laws and insti-
tutions to form the foundation for women’s rights (Branisa et al., 2013; Hyland et al., 2020).
Hyland et al. (2020) propose the possibilities and benefits of the World Bank’s Women, Business
and the Law (WBL) Index, which measures the legal gender disparities that affect the livelihood
and economic opportunities of women. Based on objective and measurable benchmarks con-
structed by world experts, this index illuminates the degree and component of legal gender dis-
crimination worldwide. The WBL Index is distinct from other indexes in that it is a composite
measurement, integrating various aspects of laws and regulations into one numerical index.1 By
operationalizing the concept of gender discrimination in the legal system, the WBL Index enables
scholars to perform comparative research effectively and draw policy implications for global pro-
gress toward gender equality. Hyland et al. (2020) also suggest possible future studies on which
factors lead to more equal laws.
This study aims to elucidate the impact of female leaders on gender equality in the legal system
using the WBL Index. Unlike the existing literature, we pay attention to national female leaders as
one of the main factors that affect legal gender equality. We also contribute to the literature by
extending the scope of research based on a rich dataset. Rather than focusing on specific laws or
countries, we conduct a panel analysis of data from 190 countries from 1970 to 2020 to examine
the effect of female leaders on gendered laws. The richness of our panel data allows us to perform
a robust examination by controlling for a wide array of observable and unobservable factors at the
country and year level that may affect gendered laws. Our findings not only provide policy impli-
cations from a macro perspective but also overcome any prevalent pessimism about female leaders
by demonstrating that even a handful of women leaders does make a difference.
Our results show that female leaders have played a prominent role in supporting legal gender
equality. The robust results across multiple specifications indicate a positive relationship between
female leaders and women’s statutory gender equality worldwide during recent decades. We then
examine whether leaders matter more or less in a different context by focusing on the characteris-
tics of leaders, countries and periods. First, we find that the influence of female leaders on reducing
legal gender disparities is stronger when they hold office for a longer period. This finding shows
that stable job performance by female leaders can further establish a legal framework for gender
equality. Second, the effects are greater in regions with higher development, such as high-income
groups and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
Surprisingly, the positive effects are also noticeable in areas of pervasive legal gender discrimina-
tion. Third, the results are robust over various periods. The effects of female leaders were greater
in the past when legal gender equality was low, and the influence is still valid in recent years.
Overall, our findings consistently suggest that female leaders can play a pivotal role in the growth
of women’s legal rights worldwide.
This study is organized as follows. The second section explains the conceptual framework
and develops the main hypothesis based on the literature. The third section introduces the
research design. The fourth section shows the estimation results. The fifth section concludes the
study.
Conceptual framework and hypothesis development
Historically, women have been underrepresented in leadership positions, especially in political
areas that significantly impact national policy (World Economic Forum, 2018).2 Many scholars
have addressed the reasons women have been less involved in the political arena from various
perspectives, including social norms (Fox and Lawless, 2004), discrimination against female
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