Does the balance matter? The gender within government and municipal indebtedness

Bibliographic Data

ID20201773
AuthorsRoberto Cabaleiro-Casal (0000-0001-9081-1701), Roberto Cabaleiro (Universidade de Vigo), Enrique Buch (0000-0001-7111-0758, Universidade de Vigo)
Year2024
Volume36
Issue4
Pages536-560
Publication date2024-08-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Budgeting Accounting & Financial Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1096-3367 • E-ISSN: 1945-1814
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/jpbafm-01-2024-0003
OpenAlexW4400404133
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited71

Purpose It was to investigate whether gender diversity – gender balance – within political municipal government teams affected the municipal indebtedness. Government ideology, the gender of the mayor and the wealth of the municipal environment were considered as moderators. Design/methodology/approach We used GMM estimators on two dynamic models and a sample of 144 Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants for the period 2013–2022. Findings Gender diversity within government teams reduces the municipal debt. Furthermore, the government right-wing ideology and the female gender of the mayor are robust moderators of the effects of the gender diversity within government teams on institutional indebtedness. Research limitations/implications The differences in financial autonomy and powers to apply public policies by municipalities in the different countries, as well as some differential aspects within the right-wing ideological spectrum, may condition our findings. Within relational demography, gender diversity impacts municipal performance, opening the way to explore other relations in future research. Practical implications The tendency to implement legislation to try to achieve high gender balances within political decision-making bodies generates higher gender diversity, and our research shows that it leads to a better financial performance, a matter of transcendental importance for EU, credit rating agencies, and lenders. Originality/value This study provides new knowledge about the effect of gender within political decision-making bodies on municipal budgetary management. It is the first research analysing the impact of gender balance in the strict sense within decision-making bodies on municipal indebtedness

Autonomy · Corporate governance · Debt · Demographic economics · Economics · Gender diversity · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Sociology · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Psychology · Finance

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access