Does Female Reservation Affect Long-Term Political Outcomes? Evidence from Rural India

Although many studies have explored the
impacts of political quotas for females, often with
ambiguous results, the underlying mechanisms and long-term
effects have received little attention. This paper uses
nation-wide data from India spanning a 15-year period to
explore how reservations affect leader qualifications,
service delivery, political participation, local
accountability, and individuals willingness to contribute
to public goods. Although leader quality declines and
impacts on service quality are often negative, gender quotas
are shown to increase the level and quality of women's
political participation, the ability to hold leaders to
account, and the willingness to contribute to public goods.
Key effects persist beyond the reserved period and impacts
on females often materialize only with a lag.