Women in Politics: The Effect on Board Diversity

Simi Kedia and Ankur Pareek

♦ We use a sharp RDD to show that victories by women candidates in close House, Senate, and gubernatorial elections increase female directors in local firms. The causal effect is higher when candidate’s media coverage is high, when voter turnout is high, and with more local directors and institutional investors. The heterogeneous RD effects suggest that electoral wins may influence local gender norms and board diversity through multiple channels, including conveying majority views on gender-related norms, increasing exposure to exemplar women, and learning about women’s leadership styles. The evidence suggests a potential spillover from women’s political leadership to the corporate world.

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