Do More Female Politicians Translate Into Better Health Outcomes? Gender Representation and Infant Mortality in Argentine Provinces

Abstract

To what extent does the gender of politicians relate to health outcomes? This article investigates the political economy of health in Argentina (1983–2017), by focusing on the gender of politicians in Argentine provinces and its relationship with subnational political competition. By applying a panel data analysis with province‐fixed effects, the article finds that overall increasing women's political representation is associated with a reduction of the rate of infant mortality. The article also shows that an increase in women's representation relates to a higher reduction of infant mortality under more competitive regimes. As a possible explanation for the inverse relationship between women's representation and infant mortality, the analysis discusses two channels through which women's representation may translate into better health outcomes: the sanction of laws aimed at health issues and the allocation of state budgets towards health.