Research

Why do some places bring more women into politics than others? During the Italian Resistance against Nazi-Fascist occupation (1943-–45), and before women in Italy could vote or stand for office, tens of thousands of women joined clandestine networks and took on political and military roles. Drawing on a new micro-level dataset on Resistance members ($\approx240\,000$), I trace the long-run political legacy of women's wartime agency. Across municipalities, higher female participation in the Resistance later translated into more women running for national office and stronger support for women's rights at the ballot box. Identification relies on rich prewar controls and an instrumental variable strategy based on terrain ruggedness, which increased reliance on local women to sustain Resistance cells. The legacy reached far beyond the women who fought: mass women's associations and public commemoration carried it to the present day. The findings shed new light on how brief, salient shocks to female political agency can create local political capital and durably alter the trajectory of women’s political inclusion.

Men and women differ in political behaviour and leadership style. Does the gender of politicians affect engagement in political budget cycles? We exploit mixed-gender mayoral races in Italian municipalities (2002-2017) using a Regression Discontinuity Design. Male mayors elected by a small margin against a female opponent are more likely to engage in strategic spending before and during elections, especially on highly visible projects such as roads, transport and waste disposal. These cycles worsen the municipal budget without improving re-election chances.