Female Mayors and Public Procurement

This paper investigates the role of mayors' gender in shaping public procurement at the local level. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) and unique datasets on Italian procurement records, firm-level data, and political information spanning 2013-2019, we explore whether procurement contracts published under female mayors exhibit different outcomes compared to those under male mayors in close elections. The results indicate modest differences in procurement practices between female and male mayors: female mayors rely less on negotiated contracts and more on direct awards. Female leadership is also associated with fewer renegotiations and a (surprisingly) lower likelihood of appointing female procurement officers, while no differences emerge in winner characteristics or other post-award outcomes. ✯ The authors acknowledge financial support from the Italian Ministry of Education Grant no. 2017Y5PJ43 001 PRIN 2017. We thank Clarissa Lotti and Silvia Vannutelli for insightful comments and discussions.