Women’s Leadership: A Research Round-up from the Accelerating Development Outcomes Conference

This past September 10-11 the World Bank Group, LSE, and the Gates Foundation convened a global conference on Women’s Leadership: Accelerating Development Outcomes. The inaugural conference, the first in a series, focused on causal evidence on barriers, impacts and policies to advance women’s representation, voice and power. A total of 48 papers were presented across sessions, complemented by keynotes from Matthias Doepke, Rohini Pande, and Amanda Clayton. Here we offer a swift round-up of both the keynotes and the papers at the conference. Papers covered a range of empirical approaches, which we have tagged below. Let’s start with the keynotes. The three keynote speakers were not guided in their talks, and yet a common thread runs through them: representation and advancements in rights do not easily translate in shifts in power and authority, and progress can be vulnerable to backsliding. Using cross-country data (190 countries, 1970–2020) and U.S. history, Doepke discussed how women's rights advances have been mainly through economic channels, such as labor force participation and fertility, rather than cultural factors. Rights advanced when both women and men stand to gain, and they stall or turn into restrictions when men see women as competitors (for example, “protective” labor laws often reflected men’s concerns about competition from women workers). The implication is that durable progress occurs when both men and women benefit from women’s rights, something that in today’s world might be weakened by falling marriage rates. [see slides here] Pande drew on a review of 56 gender-quota papers and evidence from India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Sweden, and China to argue that authority is a "gatekept good," with incumbents rationing entry to protect their own control. Well-designed quotas can break these barriers, correct beliefs about women’s leadership, and improve representation, public services, workplace conditions, and organizational performance. Yet these gains remain vulnerable when incumbents shift control to other stages of selection or reverse reforms, underscoring the need for safeguards against circumvention and rollback. [see slides here] Drawing on cross-country, legislative records, survey, and experimental evidence including 73 quota-adopting countries - with a focus on African countries - Clayton argued that women’s political inclusion (fueled by quotas) can shift policy priorities toward health, education, social rights, and addressing violence against women, while also increasing public trust and the perceived legitimacy of democratic institutions. However, representation alone does not guarantee influence: women’s effectiveness depends on institutional conditions such as electoral systems, party discipline, democratic strength, and support from women’s movements. [see slides here] And now we move from keynotes to papers, with a round-up of the research presented in three broad areas. Gender Quotas: Representation, Power and Outcomes In rural India, women elected to reserved seats hold significantly less decision-making authority, as unequal household power dynamics shape who actually governs (Huidobro, Prillaman & Singhania). #Randomization More women on corporate boards leads firms to invest more in gender-equal countries. Italy’s board gender quota shows that who governs firms can shape where capital flows. (Kavakli, D’Angelo & Minichilli). #DiD Using 11 years of data from 571 Indian listed firms following the introduction of the country’s board quotas, more gender-mixed boards appear to soften the hit to profits from policy uncertainty, mainly by protecting R&D and staff pay from cuts (Shastri). #Quant Gender quotas for rural Mexico’s communal governance raised female representation by 7 p.p., but mostly for less senior roles, and shifted land use from agriculture to reforestation without a decline in local economic activity (Aguilar-Gómez, Eustacchi & Aguirre-Duran). #DiD #EventStudy India’s 2013 Companies Act, requiring at least one woman for listed firm boards, increased the number of women directors by 45% (and overall female board share by 7%), driven by firms with no prior women directors, and increased firm CSR spending and activities. (Chakraborty, Chakraborty & Sangwan). #DiD #RD In China, moving from merit-based civil service recruitment to a one-to-one gender quota led to a decrease in female representation, candidate quality, worker productivity, and tax revenue (~US$4m per county annually) (Lyu). #DiD #EventStudy Uruguay’s electoral gender quota led to strategic compliance by parties: more women were on party nomination lists but they were not any more likely to win elected office (Acquarone & Di Landro). #DiD Token female candidates are a workaround to quotas in Brazil, but funding rules can offset his workaround (González-Fuentes & Paluskiewicz). #DiD India’s 2013 law mandating women on the boards of listed companies increased women’s board representation and boosted firm income, sales, profits, and staff welfare (Cherian, Dhar & Jain). #IV Lab experiments with students show substantial overestimation of the effects of gender quotas, driven by cognitive errors and ego-related attribution biases, resulting in distorted beliefs and increased gender bias (Kogelnik & Strack). #Randomization In France, greater female board representation following the introduction of a gender quota increases women’s presence in top positions and reduces gender pay gaps, without hurting firm performance (Ladant & Paul-Delvaux). #DiD #EventStudy #IV Barriers to Women's Leadership In Australia, female incumbents are less likely than similarly qualified men to be reelected, and voter bias is suggested as a barrier to progressing to political leadership (Do, Rai & Wang). #RDD In Brazil, women’s electoral victories do not translate into greater campaign funding for female candidates in subsequent elections or narrow gender gaps in campaign finance (Acquarone & Civitarese). #RDD In the West Bank, barriers compound across women’s careers, from labor market entry to advancement, leaving women less likely than men to reach senior and managerial positions (Hanoun). #Quant Despite a growing IT sector in Kazakhstan, few women lead, as maternity leave and flexible work carry a career penalty and "always on" norms, caregiving, and weak mentorship matter more than formal flexibility policies (Seidumanova, Isupova, Egorova, & Islamova). #MixedMethods In Italy, women academics with female peers are more likely to become full professors, but only when those peers aren’t competing for the same promotion (especially in high-quality departments) (Fenoll, Moscarola, & Zaccagni). #IV Brazilian women physicians earn 22% less than comparable non-mothers years after childbirth, driven by a 15% drop in case volume and a shift to lower-priced, less complex procedures (Branco, Carrillo, Fontes, & Rachter). #DiD #EventStudy Women in Nigeria with more digital access, especially mobile internet, are more likely to hold leadership roles in cooperatives and enterprises, particularly if they are educated, wealthier, and more digitally skilled (Daudu, Egbewole, & Yusuf). #IV Will correcting men’s misperceptions about peers’ support for women in politics spur public action? Experiments in Liberia, Nepal, and Colombia test whether belief updates increase public petition signing (Koos & Lindsey). #Lab-in-the field #PAP Electoral competition in Turkey pushes incumbent conservative parties toward gender balance. An opposition victory raised women’s candidacy by 25–30%, but not their placement in influential positions (Campa, Saygin & Tumen). #DiD In Ethiopia’s Shark Tank, sector-specific bias shaped investment, while a female CEO role model and earnings information increased funding for women-led ventures (Buehren & Papineni). #Lab-in-the-field In Nigeria, mentorship, dialogue, and values-based learning improved 5,247 boys’ acceptance of female authority and weakened gender-biased leadership norms (Ezeigbo). #Pre-Post Evidence from Ecuador shows that the rules of the game of ballot design and the subsequent decisions political parties make can drive a gender gap in election outcomes (Arenas, Knight, Martınez & Tribin). #Quant Beyond the tragic impacts on those directly affected, insecurity and conflict-related sexual violence in Nigeria generally constrain women’s participation in political and community spheres (Sanchez Bellosta). #Quant Crises in Chile erodes gender parity in elected office, consistent with crisis-activated voter bias (Calo). #Pre-Post Women’s Leadership Impacts on Development Outcomes In Brazil, female mayors reduce emissions and deforestation without reducing local economic activity, while increasing environmental investment and enforcement (Berniell, Marchionni, Pedrazzi & Viollaz). #RDD Across 127 developing countries, women’s political empowerment reduces the prevalence of informal settlements with economic development and governance as key channels (Nji Nchange & Mignamissi). #IV In Australia, female members of Parliament increase support for gender issues and related legislation, shifts attitudes toward women’s rights, and reduces sexual assaults (Do, Mahmood, Mavisakalyan & Tyers). #RDD Female mayors in Indonesia shift spending from infrastructure to personnel in low-clientelism areas, highlighting how political context shapes their impact (Merdikawati, Marshan & Nikijuluw). #DiD #EventStudy Evidence from Tanzania, Ghana, and Zimbabwe links female leadership to stronger public budget execution and higher firm profits and productivity, especially where leaders have greater autonomy (Mahuyu). #DiD More women with decision-making power in Indonesian banks helps banks interpret market signals differently leading to smoother deposit-rate pass-through (Widiyanti). #Quant Women’s leadership development leads to meaningful impacts on health-systems (Saraswati, Bhan, Bruce, Lamb, Feenstra, Kisyombe, Dabla, & Okoli). #MixedMethods Political inclusion – the number of women elected as mayors and parity rules – can result in improved education, especially at compulsory-school ages (Kaplan, Lamprea & Parker). #RDD Presence does not equal power: women may be on staff but lack a pathway to leadership (Diop). #Litreview #Qual Across five African countries, greater women’s political representation is associated with better health, education, and governance outcomes, particularly when women have meaningful decision-making authority (Aklilu). #Quant #IV Survey experiments in Colombia and Brazil show that people’s perceptions of a court’s competence and fairness increase with the share of women judges, though priming respondents about gender leads to more stereotypical descriptions of judges (Saldarriaga). #SurveyExperiment Encouraging rural VSLAs in Uganda to replace a male leader with a woman nearly tripled the share of VSLAs with female leaders and raised member loan volume by 40% and female member retention by 18%, while mentoring added no impact (Sulaiman, Bjorvatn, Franco, Mishra, Serra, & Chowdhury). #Randomization Policies and Interventions to Advance Women’s Leadership Training women elected to Indian village councils shifted budgets toward education, sanitation, and health, while increasing independent digital signoffs, weakening the "Sarpanch Pati" proxy rule by husbands. Effects are largest where caste and gender barriers are steepest (Meena & Tanwar). #DiD A review of 36 qualitative studies finds mentorship helps early career academics by unlocking informal rules, networks, visibility, and sponsorship—but unequal mentorship access does not transform institutions (Matsila & Olalude). #Litreview Across 248 causal studies, quotas improve representation, but real power requires authority, enforcement, and support; role models show promise, while backlash remains understudied (Bramucci, Muñoz Boudet & Viollaz). #Litreview A policy-literacy fellowship for Indonesian “mother-leaders” increases their political agency but structural barriers keep their projects in small community-education efforts (Puar). #CaseStudy #Pre-Post #Quant Measurement matters when trying to track investments in socio-emotional skills, but even when they work, building such skills may not affect women’s economic trajectories in Tanzania (Delavallade, Cassidy, Das, Kipchumba, Sulaiman). #Randomization Social media in Africa can increase female representation, but effects depend upon whether online social networks connect people to more diverse perspectives versus to like-minded content (Hatte, Loper & Taylor). #DiD In Peru, a near-zero-cost motivational message shrunk the gender gap in applying to rural school leadership positions (Avitabile, Muñoz Boudet, David & Lemos). #Randomization Social media (Instagram) messaging significantly influenced college women’s pursuit of STEM in Peru (Agurto, Sarangi & Serra). #Randomization Women’s entry into public leadership in UAE may be constrained less by resources than by reputational concerns, including family approval and the costs of public exposure (Noh & Shockley). #Randomization In MENA, women-led cooperatives strengthen economic independence and inclusive governance, but restrictive norms, limited resources, and weak policies constrain their impact (Najjar, Oueslati, Ghanem et al.). #Qual Female-led police stations increase reporting of gender-based violence, especially in rural, low-literacy areas, by creating safer spaces for survivors in Pakistan (Anwar). #MixedMethods