Gender and Fiscal Transparency in Developing Countries

This article analyses the impact of women's representation in national parliaments on fiscal transparency in developing countries. Using a panel of 80 countries over the period 2006-2019, fiscal transparency is measured by the Open Budget Index, an indicator developed by the International Budget Partnership. The empirical results, which are robust to various econometric specifications, show that the representation of women in national parliaments has a positive and significant effect on fiscal transparency. The findings remain consistent after multiple robustness checks, including the addition of additional control variables, the use of an alternative measure of women's political participation, and the implementation of a natural experience. These results support the idea that political diversity, particularly greater representation of women, could improve fiscal transparency. The study thus highlights the importance of policies promoting women's inclusion in decision-making bodies as a lever for improving public governance in developing countries.