Co-Author: Bahare Sanaie-Movahed, Geographic Information Systems Specialist, Digital Scholarship Group, Northeastern University

Abstract

A result of the global push for greater female representation in governance is the implementation of gender quotas in legislature. The lion's share of the research on this issue explains factors responsible for the institutionalization of gender quotas. We advance this field further with a study that assesses the effect of gender quotas on host countries. This study examines the impact quotas have had on economic growth indicators between 1990 to 2012. More than 100 cases were recruited for this study based on the implementation of voluntary political party quotas and institutionalized legislative quotas in host countries. We employ mixed methods, utilizing a time series regression model for quantitative analysis, paired with a geospatial analysis and GIS visualization. Our findings uncover the impacts of gender quotas; furthermore, we employ our findings to conclude our study with policy implications for countries considering implementing gender quotas.