Gender of Legislators and Renewable Energy

Abstract

Do female policymakers encourage the production and investment of renewable energy? The literature has shown that female politicians provide more public goods and care more about the environment than male politicians. I study this question in a cross-country analysis of 41 high-income countries for the years 1990 and 1997 to 2015. I use passing a quota law or years since women’s suffrage as instruments for the proportion of women in the Parliament. I 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. Furthermore, it increases the net renewable electricity capacity, a proxy for renewable energy investment, by 0.002 percentage points. This study suggests that fostering policies that increase women’s participation in policymaking positions is highly recommended, especially considering its positive spillovers to other countries.