Replication Data for: The Gender Gap in Political Careers Under Proportional Representation

Does proportional representation feature gender gaps in incumbency advantages? I argue that closed-list PR (compared to open-list PR) can help to attenuate the gender difference by reducing voters' influence over individual candidates' electoral outcomes. Using heterogeneity-in-discontinuity designs, I contrast gender-specific incumbency effects in municipal elections across Norway (open-list) and Spain (closed-list). In Norway, women experience an incumbency advantage in winning future elections that is up to 60\% smaller than men's; in Spain, female candidates enjoy incumbency effects equal to or greater than men's. Additional results suggest that these findings are unlikely to be due to unobserved country characteristics or differential selection. Although more suggestive, further evidence is consistent with voter bias entering through preference votes for individual candidates -- especially in right-wing parties -- as a key mechanism for the gender gap in open-list PR. All told, this paper highlights the importance of electoral rules in ensuring gender equity in political representation by addressing leaky pipelines in office.比例代表制是否会在连任优势维度产生性别差距？本文提出，封闭式名单比例代表制（closed-list PR）相较于开放式名单比例代表制（open-list PR），可通过削弱选民对个体候选人选举结果的影响力，缓解这一性别差异。本文采用断点异质性设计，对比采用开放式名单比例代表制的挪威与采用封闭式名单比例代表制的西班牙两国市政选举中的性别特异性连任效应。在挪威，女性候选人在未来选举中获得的连任优势较男性候选人最高低60%；而在西班牙，女性候选人的连任效应与男性持平甚至更高。额外分析结果显示，上述发现不太可能由未观测到的国家层面特征或差异化选拔机制所导致。尽管相关证据仍有待进一步验证，但更多研究结果支持，选民偏见通过针对个体候选人的偏好票发挥作用——尤其是在右翼政党中——这是开放式名单比例代表制下性别差距产生的核心机制。综上，本文揭示了选举规则在通过弥补公职体系中的性别流失通道以保障政治代表性性别公平方面的重要性。