Does Female Suffrage Increase Public Support for Government Spending? Evidence from Swiss Ballots

How does the enfranchisement of women influence public support for government spending? To answer this question, I analyze the voting outcomes of two very similar Swiss referendum ballots concerning the federal government's competency to levy income, capital and turnover taxes. The first ballot took place shortly before the extension of suffrage to women in February 1971, and the other soon thereafter. To shed light on the existence of gender gaps in approval for government spending, I estimate the impact of the introduction of female voting on the acceptance rates of the propositions. I also control for socioeconomic gender gaps like lower female employment rates, which have an effect on preferences for the size of government. Surprisingly, I find that approval for government spending is higher among the male population. To address concerns that the results might only hold conditionally on voter participation decisions, I provide additional evidence from of a post-ballot survey. This survey in which both voters and non-voters are interviewed confirm that the results extend to the non-voting population. My results complement the findings of literature which suggest that in the analysis of gender preference gaps for government expenditure spending categories should be distinguished. While women care for welfare or education spending, they might be indifferent or opposed to other spending items