They find that compared to individuals in never-reserved councils, individuals in reserved councils were more likely to perceive women as being effective leaders, and less likely to hold on to stereotypes about gender roles.

In a follow-up study, Beamen et al. (2012) use the same data set and similar empirical strategy to estimate the impact of the reservations on the gender gap in aspirations and educational attainment for adolescents. They find that compared to never-reserved councils, adolescent girls in twicereserved councils saw a larger increase in aspirations than their male counterparts. Parents in twicereserved councils also saw a larger increase in aspirations for daughters compared to sons. Adolescent girls in twice-reserved councils saw a larger increase in their educational attainment compared to adolescent boys, and adolescent girls spent less time on household work.

Kalsi (2017) exploits the same natural experiment to find that the infant mortality rate of girls (versus boys) at higher birth orders declined and the percentage of surviving boys (versus surviving girls) at higher birth orders declined following reservations in rural India. She argues that the likely channel for this was normative change that accompanied exposure to female leaders.

The presence of female politicians can also lead to investment in programs preferred by or strongly needed by the female population. Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2004) find evidence of this using household survey data from West Bengal described above, and from Udaipur district in Rajasthan, India. Note however, that the authors do not estimate whether female politicians increase expenditure on programs specifically targeted at female children.

Overall, the studies from the Indian context strongly suggest that the presence of female politicians can lead to a narrowing of gender gaps across various dimensions. There are studies in the context of developed countries that also provide evidence of this, namely the positive role model effect of female politicians.<sup>18</sup>

# _Education and employment opportunities_

See Table 4 for an overview of the studies described below.

An expansion of educational opportunities (Pande & Astone 2007; Murthi et al. 1995; Ren 1995), and employment opportunities/financial resources for women (Duflo 2000; Luke & Munshi 2011; Qian 2008) is documented to improve outcomes for girls. This positive change can happen through various channels. Providing women with education can allow them to be active participants in the labor force, and this can go to improve their bargaining position within the household, and lower their financial dependence on male kin. The presence of women actively engaged in the formal

> 18 Latu et al. (2013) conduct an experiment with ~ 150 students from a Swiss university to study how random exposure to high-ranking female politicians versus male politicians (and exposure to female politicians versus no exposure) impact women’s behavior. They find that extended exposure to female politicians had a positive effect on women’s behavior during leadership tasks, and their self-assessments when performing those tasks. Campbell and Wolbrecht (2006) find similar results in the United States. Using longitudinal and cross-sectional data for high school seniors in the US, they conduct correlation/associative studies to highlight that – over time, and during a single period – an increase in the visibility of female politicians is associated with an increase in adolescent girls’ aspirations to be politically involved.

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