The impact of mayors’ gender dissimilarity on budgetary stability in the EU: the case of Spanish municipalities

The trend to include gender quota in politics is changing power structures. Recent literature has shown that politicians’ gender has no conclusive direct effects on municipal budget imbalances, which are crucial for the EU Fiscal Stability Treaty. Based on gender differences in preferences for taxes and public spending policy, we tested whether mayors’ gender dissimilarity with their government teams could facilitate compliance with budgetary stability in large Spanish municipalities. A mayor’s gender dissimilarity was found to have a positive effect on municipal budgetary stability, which is especially relevant when a female mayor governs and the government has a right-wing ideology.