Effects of Gender Quotas on Female Representation in Brazil

Abstract

This article examines the underrepresentation of women in Brazilian politics and assesses the impact of a 30% gender quota, introduced by law in 2010, on the affected positions (City Councilor, State Representative, and Federal Representative). To identify the causal effect of the legislation, the difference-in-differences econometric model is used, covering the period from 2002 to 2022. The results indicate that, although the percentage of female candidates grew significantly after the enactment of the law, with a significant effect of 10.75 percentage points, this increase did not translate into greater electoral success. The share of women elected stayed stable and very low in the immediate period after the law. However, since 2018, with the official electoral body allocating mandatory funding to women's campaigns, there has been an increase in the proportion of women elected (albeit slightly), indicating the importance of financial and institutional support to increase female competitiveness.