Essays on gender and political economy

Zhou, Zhou (2026) Essays on gender and political economy. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines how gender mediates the relationship between individuals and public policy across three domains: local government spending, domestic abuse, and labour markets. The first two chapters draw on English local government data, while the third examines a policy reform in China; each employs a different strategy to investigate how political representation and policy design shape gendered outcomes.

The first chapter provides causal evidence that female political representation shifts local government spending priorities in England. Using a novel instrumental variable strategy based on the alphabetical ordering of candidates on ballot papers, the analysis shows that increasing the share of female councillors raises spending on children’s social care and public health, with offsetting reductions in infrastructure. These effects are concentrated in councils where women hold about 30 per cent of seats, consistent with the critical mass hypothesis. The second chapter investigates female political representation and domestic abuse in England. Combining police-recorded data with confidential survey evidence from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the analysis reveals that areas with higher female representation record more domestic abuse cases, yet show no increase in underlying prevalence. This divergence suggests that higher recording reflects improved reporting behaviour rather than worsening conditions, driven by victim-initiated police contact and higher public health spending. The third chapter examines the labour market consequences of China’s Two-Child Policy using longitudinal data and a difference-in-differences design. Women newly eligible for a second child experienced significant wage penalties and reduced employment probability, with adverse effects disproportionately borne by younger, less-educated, and rural women.

Together, the three chapters demonstrate that gendered outcomes depend critically on the distribution of political power, the interpretation of administrative data, and the institutional environment in which policies operate. The findings underscore the importance of embedding gender-aware analysis into policy design and of combining multiple data sources when studying sensitive and underreported outcomes.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported in part by the Economics Scholarship awarded by the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman; J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School
• Funder's Name: College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow
• Supervisor's Name: Cheng, Dr. Wenya, Battisti, Professor Michele and Wilson, Dr. Tanya
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-86119
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Jul 2026 11:11
• Last Modified: 15 Jul 2026 12:34
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.86119
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/86119