larger size.<sup>13</sup> The measure used is based on adding up all contributions to obtain the total overall or sum for relevant categories. This allows us to test whether, by increasing voice and participation, reservation of leadership positions for females prompts individuals to contribute more towards public goods.

Before discussing descriptive evidence, it is worth noting that a precondition for our empirical strategy to be valid, i.e. for OLS estimates to be interpreted as a causal effect, is that allocation of reserved seats across villages is indeed random. The fact that the last round of the panel survey was conducted in 1999 allows us to test this for the 2000 election. Descriptive statistics for village and household characteristics in 1999 in panel 1 and 2 of table 2 reveals little if any bias in this regard. Some 30% (71 out of 233) of the sample villages were reserved in this period. Reserved and unreserved villages are similarly sized and have similar levels of access to infrastructure and public goods (drinking water, anganwadi, food for work programs), with a significant difference only in the number of health workers. Household characteristics such as education, age, assets, income, and its composition, are not significantly different between reserved and unreserved villages either.

# **3.2 Leader qualifications and process characteristics**

Having established that villages are otherwise comparable, we note that characteristics of pradhans differ between reserved and unreserved panchayats. The top panel of table 3 highlights that those on reserved seats have much lower educational qualifications; 25% as compared to less than 6% on unreserved seats are illiterate, and only 29% and 6% of them (vs. 62% and 22% respectively) completed at least secondary or high school. This also implies that very few „unreserved‟ pradhans had been involved in politics before; the share of those who held GP positions or ran for pradhan or ward member before is significantly higher in unreserved compared to reserved villages (24% versus 12% and 21% versus 7% for previous positions or candidacies, respectively). At the same time, female reservation does not seem to reduce the likelihood of other marginalized groups, especially scheduled castes and tribes or religious minorities, to be elected, allaying fears about potential negative equity consequences of this policy. Moreover, the fact that in unreserved panchayats only 7% of pradhans are female is consistent with the hypothesis that without reservation, female participation would have been much lower. In line with earlier observations, reservations bring less experienced or „new‟ officials to power; compared to a quarter who had held office before in unreserved panchayats, only some 12% held office earlier in reserved ones and only 7%, as compared to some 21% in unreserved seats had been running for office without being elected before.

> 13 To obtain an indication of individuals‟ willingness to contribute at the margin (for the current panchayat period), the question was phrased as follows. “Imagine the Government decides to contribute an additional Rs. 1 lakh (100,000) to solve a local problem but only if the majority of village households contribute Rs. 100 each. Imagine that almost enough people are willing to contribute and your decision to contribute or not will decide the outcome. Would you be willing to contribute Rs. 100 if the issue was ....?”.

12