Gender Differences in Grant-Seeking Behavior: Evidence from Local Politics

A large body of literature examines gender differences in political representation and behavior. Previous studies show that women must be more qualified and skilled than men to achieve similar electoral success, pointing to persistent voter bias that disadvantages female candidates (Bauer 2020; Milyo and Schlosberg 2000; Pearson and McGhee 2013). Anticipating these uneven conditions, women holding public office may be motivated to exert greater effort in office in order to strengthen their re-election prospects. One of the key activities of political incumbents is seeking public resources for their constituencies. Existing research suggests that women are more active in this regard, but the evidence largely focuses on national-level politics (Anzia and Berry 2011; Volden et al. 2013). Our paper contributes to this literature by examining gender differences in grant-seeking behavior at the local level. We analyze more than 22,000 grant requests submitted by Slovak municipalities between 2006 and 2018. We provide three main findings. First, female incumbents are more active than their male counterparts in requesting grants for their municipalities. Second, this gender gap widens in favor of women as mayors accumulate more terms in office. Third, grant-seeking activity follows a similar electoral-cycle pattern for both genders: mayors are most active at the beginning of the term, their activity declines over time, and then increases sharply in the election year. This surge suggests a strategic intensification of effort aimed at appealing to voters. Overall, our findings enhance our understanding of gender differences in local political behavior by highlighting how female and male incumbents differ in their effort to secure public resources.