81512 enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database Together We Will: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Female Voter Turnout in Pakistan Author(s) Xavier Gine and Ghazala Mansuri Contact xgine@worldbank.org Country Pakistan Organizing Theme Voice and Agency Status Completed Intervention Category Political Participation Sector Social Development In many emerging democracies women are less likely to vote than men and, when they do vote, are more likely to follow the wishes of household males. We assess the impact of a voter awareness campaign on female turnout and candidate choice. Geographic clusters within villages were randomly assigned to treatment or control, and within treated clusters, some households were left untreated. Compared to women in control clusters, both treated Abstract and untreated women in treated clusters are 12 percentage points more likely to vote, and are also more likely to exercise independence in candidate choice, indicating large spillovers. Data from polling stations suggests that treating 10 women increased turnout by about 9 votes, resulting in a cost per vote of US$ 2.3. Finally, a 10 percent increase in the share of treated women at the polling station led to a 6 percent decrease in the share of votes of the winning party. Gender Connection Gender Focused Intervention Gender Outcomes Participation or voice in community, women's representation in politics IE Design Clustered Randomized Control Trial (Clustered at street level) The intervention was comprised of a campaign to increase voter turnout. The campaign was developed as a set of simple visual aids with two different messages: the importance of voting which focused on the relationship between the electoral process and policy, and the Intervention significance of secret balloting which explained the actual balloting process. Treated women received either the first message or the first and the second, allowing us to test whether the knowledge that ballots are cast in an environment of secrecy enhances female participation, as well as independence in candidate choice. Intervention Period The information campaign occurred 2 weeks before the election The sample had 67 clusters in total, 30 assigned to treatment 1, 27 assigned to treatment 2 Sample population and 10 controls. Within each cluster, every 4th house was surveyed. In total 2735 women from 1018 households were reached. The study compares two different treatments of presentations to women, with a control Comparison conditions group who received no presentation. Unit of analysis Woman, household and cluster level. Last updated: 14 August 2013 1 enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database Evaluation Period A survey was conducted in March 2003, a month after the election Turnout increases by about 12% for women in treated households compared to control clusters, with somewhat larger and more precise effects for women exposed to both messages. There are comparable turnout rates for treated women and their untreated close neighbors, indicating large geographical spillovers. There are also large spillovers among close friends. For every 10 treated women, female turnout increases by about 9 votes. Also, there is no effect on male turnout. Treated women are significantly more likely to vote for Results the second most voted for political party. Control women in treated clusters behaved again as if directly treated, confirming once more the importance of social interactions. Polling station data show as well that an increase of 10 percent in the share of treated women led to decrease in the share of female votes for the winning party of 6 percent. These results suggest that the campaign could have influenced the share of votes at the constituency level, had it been implemented at a larger scale. Also, males in treated households are less likely to be informed about their wife's candidate choice. Primary study limitations The study does not discuss limitations Funding Source World Bank Development Research Group, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Giné, X., & Mansuri, G. Together We Will: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Female Reference(s) Voter Turnout in Pakistan. Link to Studies http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DEC/Resources/CEMay.pdf Microdata Last updated: 14 August 2013 2