Gender and Leadership in Times of Crisis: Women’s Leadership is Associated with Better Communication and Fewer COVID-19 Deaths

The ongoing pandemic highlights the significance of early and effective leadership in a crisis. Research suggests that when faced with uncertainty, people prefer women as leaders. We contribute to this literature by examining whether women-led countries had fewer COVID-19 deaths than men-led countries, and whether leader’s communications mattered. We use a novel application of the nearest neighbour matching methodology to compare women-led countries with their nearest male-led countries. Using data on COVID-19 deaths from Worldometer as of May 19th 2020, we find that women-led countries had fewer COVID-19 deaths compared to male-led countries. To understand the mechanisms underpinning this relationship, we conducted a qualitative analysis of leader’s speeches made between February 15 and April 15, 2020. Compared to men, women leaders were more urgent in highlighting the crisis and empowering their citizens by indicating what they could do. We reflect on implications for the effectiveness of leadership in crisis.