Female Leaders and Intrahousehold Dynamics: Evidence from State Elections in India

We study the impact of women's political representation on the well-being of their female constituents, specifically in the domain of health. Increasing women's political representation leads to greater public provision of reproductive health care services in rural areas. Consequently, rural women can exercise greater control over their reproductive choices through the adoption of modern contraception and increased birth spacing. However, these positive impacts are accompanied by an increase in intimate partner violence against women. The increase in spousal abuse is particularly pronounced among women whose husbands prefer to have additional sons, suggesting that the wife's greater contraceptive use triggers marital conflict. (JEL D13, D72, I18, J13, J16, O17, O18)