The question posed is one which has engendered debate in recent years, spurred research, policy papers and government action in many countries to actively involve women in political life as an anti corruption strategy.
According to the Anti-Corruption Research Network “several early, mainly econometric contributions to this discussion claimed there is indeed a link between higher representation of women in government and lower levels of corruption.” Ten years ago the World Bank in a report Engendering Development 2001 posited “there may be intrinsic differences in the behaviours of women and men that lead to cleaner government when more women are in key government positions.
The notion that on average, women and men respond to social and economic situations in different ways is not radical. Some part of these behavioural differences stems from