Women’s Representation in State Politics: Linking Descriptive and Substantive Representation to Health and Economic Policy Outcomes

This paper tests whether women’s descriptive representation in American state legislatures explains variance in policies relevant to women. The relationship between women’s representation and policy is estimated, controlling for alternative explanations of policy adoption including learning from neighboring and politically-similar states, internal economic and political conditions, and state demographics. Following prior research, a single equation instrumental variables model is used to link descriptive and substantive representation, but results do not support the use of a model with endogenous covariates. A simpler model specification demonstrates that women’s descriptive representation in state legislatures improves economic policy but not health policy outcomes. Political party confounds the relationship between gender and health policy outcomes. This paper contributes to the literature by: Using a broader measure of policy outcomes rather than dichotomous measures, examining women’s representation in both executive and legislative branches, demonstrating the role of political party, and linking women’s descriptive and substantive representation

Effects of state minimum wage increases on employment, hours, and earnings of low-wage workers in Illinois

In a 2003 study, we simulated the effects of a minimum wage increase in Illinois using payroll and population data, and predicted that the increase would not trigger widespread job loss. Data are now available to examine these effects empirically. Controlling for the demographics and economic changes of bordering states, as well as using Illinois before the minimum wage change as a control, we arrive at unexpected results given our prior simulations. Taken at face value, our estimates imply that the price elasticity of demand for low-wage workers in Illinois is high; in fact, much larger than current evidence suggests

Gender and emotional labor in public organizations: An empirical examination of the link to performance

Scholars of public organizations have begun to emphasize emotional labor in studies of gender in the workplace, finding that the skills women bring to organizations are often overlooked and undercompensated even though they play a vital role in the organization. Emotional labor is an individual’s effort to present emotions in a way that is desired by the organization. The authors hypothesize that employers with greater emotional labor expectations of their employees will have more effective interactions with clients, better internal relationships, and superior program performance. This article tests the effects of emotional labor in a bureaucratic workforce over time. Multiple regression results show that organizations with more women at the street level have higher overall organizational performance. Additionally, emotional labor contributes to organizational productivity over and above its role in employee turnover and client satisfaction