The challenge
In many emerging democracies women are less likely to vote than men and, when they do vote, are likely to follow the wishes of male household and clan heads; Ghazala Mansuri notes that only 44 percent of Pakistan's registered voters are women.
The case
Xavier Giné and Ghazala Mansuri randomly assigned geographic clusters within villages in rural Sukkur and Khairpur districts of Sindh to a voter awareness campaign or to a control group ahead of the 2008 election; within treated clusters, some households were not targeted, and the survey reached 2,736 women in 1,018 households. One version of the campaign explained the importance of voting; a second also explained what would happen on election day, such as where the polling station would be, that polling booths were single-gender and staffed by women, and that the ballot is secret. Compared with women in control clusters, both targeted and untargeted women in treated clusters were 11 percentage points more likely to vote and more likely to exercise independence in choosing a candidate. Polling-station data suggest that treating 10 women increased female turnout by about seven votes, at a cost of US$3.1 per vote.
Why it worked
Mansuri said the spillovers to untargeted women were 'huge' and that, implemented at scale, the turnout impact would be large enough to close the gender gap in turnout, calling the poster-based campaign 'a very very cheap way to get to women'.
Sources
- Giné, X., & Mansuri, G. (2018). Together we will: Experimental evidence on female voting behavior in Pakistan. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10(1), 207–235.
- World Bank Microdata Library. Pakistan – Election Intervention Survey 2008: Experimental evidence on female voting behavior.
- American Economic Association (2018). Research highlight: interview with Ghazala Mansuri on female voting in Pakistan.
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