# title
Gender balance in committees and how it impacts participation: Evidence from Costa Ricas legislative assembly.

# abstract
We examine participation by women and men in legislatures in a critical case.  Previous studies found  that  women  often  participate  less  than  men  in  committee  hearings  and  plenary  debates.    Yet these studies were conducted in cases where women held a fairly small share of seats and generally did not hold leadership positions or have seniority ?factors expected to decrease participation. We use data from  the  Costa  Rican  Legislative  Assembly  (2010-2012)  to  assess  whether  women  still  participate  less than men when placed in conditions of (near) institutional equality.  Costa Rica has a successful 40% gender  quota,  a  woman  president,  and  no  immediate  reelection  to  the  Assembly  so  all  deputies  lack seniority, thus many sex barriers have been broken in Costa Rican politics.  In this apparently favorable environment, do women deputies participate equally with men?  We answer this question using data from two standing committees, which offer variance on the percentage of women in attendance at each session.  Empirical findings suggest that women participate as much as men in committee, even when the number of women on the committee is few.  We also find that committee leaders are very active participants, which underscores the importance for women of obtaining committee leadership positions.

# authors[].organizations[].label
Bush School of Government and Public Service