Fairer Sex or Fairer System? Gender and Corruption Revisited

Abstract

Two recent influential studies found that larger representations of in government reduced corruption. Assuming that the observed gender differentials were caused by women's inclinations toward honesty and the common good, both studies advocated increased female participation in government to combat corruption. This study argues that the observed association between gender and is spurious and mainly caused by its context, liberal democracy — a political that promotes gender equality and better governance. Data favor this fairer system thesis. One of the most stunning findings in recent research is the discovery of the negative relationship between in government and corruption. It is claimed that rates of female participation in government are associated with lower levels of corruption (Dollar, Fisman & Gatti 2001:427). Why does female participation reduce government corruption? Several plausible explanations based on extant psychological and sociological theories of deviance have been contemplated, although none has been empirically tested. The argument centering on the rule-abiding tendency of and the rule-breaking proclivity of men follows naturally from models that treat female participation in government as an exogenous factor. Not surprisingly, these studies conclude that women may have higher standards of ethical behavior and be more concerned with the common good (Dollar, Fisman & Gatti 2001:427), and that increasing women's presence in public life can reduce levels of corruption (Swamy et. al. 2001:26). This study examines the new truism that make governments more honest. In the first section I review the two studies that form the main source