Women’s political empowerment and welfare policy decisions: a spatial analysis of European countries

This study analyses the impact of female political empowerment on European countries’ welfare policies. Following a spatial econometric approach, the results reveal the presence of a spatial dependence across countries and a consistent gender effect. In particular, the descriptive representation seems to favour a higher distribution of resources to sectors in which women are disproportionately active (health, family, housing, elderly care). Moreover, the study reveals positive spatial spillovers arising from women’s political empowerment in neighbouring countries that suggest the existence of an active and visible role model crossing national jurisdictions. These outcomes are robust to different metrics of neighbourliness.