Essays in gender economics and political economy

This thesis investigates how beliefs, information and narratives shape individual attitudes and policy preferences in domains central to gender equality and social change. Across three essays—two based on experimental evidence and one using historical data—it explores how the provision of information, the correction of misbeliefs, and the exposure to reactionary narratives influence gender attitudes, support for equality-oriented policies, and political alignment. The first essay examines attitudes toward gender quotas in the labor market. Using a survey experiment among Italian workers and managers (N = 2,404), it tests how informational frames emphasizing either demand-side barriers (discrimination and bias) or supply-side constraints (participation, confidence, and role models) affect support for quotas. Results reveal a persistent gap between stated and behavioral support—measured through donations to an NGO promoting gender quotas—and show that supply-side framing increases donation intensity among individuals with less crystallized beliefs about inequality’s origins. The second essay investigates social norms surrounding coercive and controlling be- haviors among young adults in Europe. A preregistered online experiment with 3,900 participants in Italy, Sweden, and Romania reveals that individuals systematically overes- timate peer tolerance for such behaviors. Correcting these misperceptions reduces support for coercive actions and reshapes policy preferences regarding gender-based violence, particularly among men and those with larger initial biases. The third essay turns to the role of political actors, analyzing how reactionary narra- tives can reshape political cleavages. Leveraging novel historical data on Phyllis Schlafly’s STOP-ERA campaign (1972–1982), it shows that local exposure to anti-feminist mobiliza- tion increased Republican vote shares and fostered more conservative gender attitudes, illustrating how moral panics can transform latent cultural divisions into partisan identities.