The Effect of Mayoral Gender on Gendered Budget: Evidence from South Korea
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Author | Hoyong Jung |
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/14789299211021517 |
| Subject Matter | The Null Hypothesis |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211021517
Political Studies Review
2022, Vol. 20(2) 314 –326
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14789299211021517
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The Effect of Mayoral Gender
on Gendered Budget: Evidence
from South Korea
Hoyong Jung
Abstract
Politicians’ individual traits can influence policy outcomes. A local mayor has authority over the
budget process and can affect the municipal budgetallocation. This study empirically examined
whether the mayor’s gender affected the gendered budget in Korean cities between 2016 and
2020. Across various econometric designs, our results revealed little evidence that mayoral
gender (women, in this case) affects the formulation and execution of the gendered budget. The
results imply that the effects of female representation through a female leader are dependent on
various socioeconomic contexts.
Keywords
female, mayor, gendered budget, local government finance, South Korea
Accepted: 12 May 2021
Introduction
Globally, women are underrepresented in prominent positions at both the local and
national level. In recent years, traditionally male-centered politics has begun to change,
and the number of female politicians has been increasing despite not quite reaching sub-
stantial gender equality.1 This pattern has attracted the interest of researchers seeking to
understand the implications of female leadership on various policy outcomes (Duflo,
2012; Hessami and Lopes da Fonseca, 2020).
Increasing the number of women in leadership positions may improve women’s rep-
resentation in male-dominated fields, thereby addressing gender disparities (Flabbi
et al., 2019; Kunze and Miller, 2017). This suggestion is based on the expectation that
female leaders can produce positive spillover effects through their gender-specific
characteristics, directing more resources to women’s interests and stimulating women-
friendly policies (Funk and Philips, 2019). While this view has been prominent in both
academic and policy debates, there is not yet theoretical consensus. Gender stereotypes
still bind female leaders’ implicit beliefs (Ellemers, 2018). Moreover, female leaders
Department of Economics, Kookmin University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Corresponding author:
Hoyong Jung, Department of Economics, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, South Korea.
Email: ghdydwjd1@gmail.com
1021517PSW0010.1177/14789299211021517Political Studies ReviewJung
research-article2021
The Null Hypothesis
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