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Empowering Women through Development Aid: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2013

ANDREW BEATH ,
FOTINI CHRISTIA  and
RUBEN ENIKOLOPOV
ANDREW BEATH*
Affiliation:
World Bank
FOTINI CHRISTIA*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
RUBEN ENIKOLOPOV*
Affiliation:
New Economic School
*
Andrew Beath is Economist, Office of the Chief Economist for East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank (abeath@worldbank.org).
Fotini Christia is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (cfotini@mit.edu).
Ruben Enikolopov is Assistant Professor, New Economic School (REnikolopov@nes.ru).
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Abstract

In societies with widespread gender discrimination, development programs with gender quotas are considered a way to improve women's economic, political, and social status. Using a randomized field experiment across 500 Afghan villages, we examine the effects of a development program that mandates female participation. We find that even in a highly conservative context like Afghanistan, such initiatives improve outcomes specific to female participation in some economic, social, and political activities, including increased mobility and income generation. They, however, produce no change in more entrenched female roles linked to family decision-making or in attitudes toward the general role of women in society.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 107 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 540 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2013 

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