Publication

This paper evaluates the presence of gender-based differences in political preferences in a cross-section of 19 African countries. The authors find that these differences are quite small on average, but vary significantly across both policy domains and countries. They then make normative evaluations of gender gaps across policy domains and evaluate how economic and social factors shape these differences. The results show that greater (financial) independence of women, represented by female labor participation, closes the gaps between the mens' preference for policies which prioritize the economy, agriculture and infrastructure and women’s preferences which prioritize access to clean water and poverty reduction.