Divergent paths: the gender gap in the post-politics revolving door

Recent literature highlights the significance and prevalence of the post-politics revolving door across countries, including Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and the USA. A shared characteristic among politicians who exit politics is that they are hired into high-paying positions in the sectors they regulated and legislated. This movement raises questions about the motives of these politicians while in office, as well as potential favours granted to these companies at the expense of the public interest. However, many politicians do not seem to be attracted to, or offered, generous payoffs in the corporate sector; instead, they choose to work for national or international public organisations. Who are they? And why do they forego the potential financial payoff of their political networks? Furthermore, could gender or class differences explain which path a politician opts for? In this paper, we investigate the gender and class gap in the post-politics payoff. Using newly collected biographical data, as well as data on post-politics board appointments, on inner-cabinet ministers in 50 democracies over 20 years, we develop a theory and empirically investigate the characteristics of those who exit to the financially lucrative private sector and those who exit to the less lucrative public sector.