IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

Are countries run by women really responding to COVID-19 better than countries run by men?

The media keeps saying female world leaders have done a better job than the men in dealing with COVID-19 —without presenting quantitative evidence. This article looks at the data.

Note: this story has started to get some traction and I’ve noticed it has evoked emotional responses in readers. I will welcome any corrections made by readers so long as they are offered kindly and sincerely. Otherwise, I will probably not engage in discussion. Thanks.

Female leaders around the globe, from left: Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen; New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern; the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen; and Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister. Source: The Guardian

Introduction

• Several publications have recently suggested that female heads of government are doing a better job than their male counterparts in dealing with COVID-19.
• None of these publications appear to have based their claims on a substantial quantitative analysis.
• I set out to carry out such a quantitative analysis based on the available data. To my knowledge, this is the first article of its kind.
• To be clear, I did not set out to demonstrate that either gender is somehow better than the other. I believe such dichotomies are not helpful. My purpose was simply to examine the claims in the media independently, instead of believing them blindly.