Women City Leaders and Postmaterialist Values: Gender Differences in Economic Development Priorities

Abstract

We investigate gender-associated differences in the attitudes of city leaders regarding local economic development priorities. In so doing, we test the thesis that the economic development priorities of women city leaders will reflect postmaterialist values; in other words, women city leaders will place more of an emphasis on quality-of-life issues than do men. We employ results of a survey of more than 150 city leaders in Texas. Our findings offer support for our postmaterialist thesis and indicate that while women differ little from men in terms of traditional economic development considerations, such as the importance of job creation and revenue generation, women more than men also consider the influence of economic development efforts on a community's environment and aesthetics.

Keywords:

• women
• city leaders
• economic development
• postmaterialist values
• traditional values
• Texas
• cities
• economic development priorities
• quality-of-life issues

Notes

Christopher A. Jarmon is now at the Bush School of Public Service and Administration at Texas A & M University.

1. When we use the term “local level,” we refer primarily to city officeholders and administrators. Therefore, our usage of this term for the most part is not directed at other types of local participants—for example, neighborhood associations or community organization leaders. We acknowledge, though, that these other local participants can be involved in local politics and that gender can have a significant impact on the priorities of these organizations (e.g., Rabrenovic 1996). (Some of the influence of these other local participants may be broadly captured by our use of the Citizens/Citizen Groups survey response category, discussed in a later section.)

2. We realize that these “policy inputs” are in part determined by the economic context of a specific locality. For example, a city that is plagued with high levels of unemployment is more likely to pursue a traditional (e.g., job creation) economic development strategy, compared to a city which is more fiscally and economically sound.

3. In 1979 the Texas legislature passed the Development Corporation Act. This allowed cities to form economic development corporations to attract businesses and create job opportunities. Cites can adopt a dedicated sales tax to fund industrial economic development projects. An EDC is responsible for the administration and oversight of the expenditure of these sales tax funds. In 1991 the legislature amended the act to allow greater flexibility in the use of these revenues. As a result, cities in Texas can also use a dedicated sales tax to address quality-of-life issues—to improve their viability as places to live, work, and visit. Not all Texas cities have established an EDC; cities with an EDC may not have a local chamber of commerce, and vice versa, or a city may have both. Often, though not always, when there is an established EDC, the EDC takes the leadership role in promoting local business (rather than the local chamber of commerce). Absent an EDC, the local chamber tends to play a more pronounced role in economic development.

4. The list of surveyed cities is available from the authors upon request.

5. The question was derived from Lewis's (2001) study of city administrators' attitudes on economic development in California.

6. We excluded four items from classification: conformity with the city's general plan, views of nearby local governments, support from other business leaders in the region, and support from other leaders in the city. Although relevant for other projects, these items are not relevant for our present investigation. Traditionally, economic development in the United States is a local affair, and with few exceptions there is little regional emphasis: It is common to characterize intercity relations as competitive in the area of economic development. There is no theoretical reason to expect that whatever modest regional emphasis may exist will be associated with gender. Conversely, because city leaders do not operate autonomously but in a network of intracity participants, there is no reason to expect gender differences regarding the level of consideration accorded other city leaders. Cities in Texas have a general plan, and although there may be variation in the extent to which these plans act as a guide for economic development, there is no reason to expect gender differences within the theoretical framework under investigation.

7. To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive data source that details the percentage of women in each of the positions we investigate. The fact that we have a small number of women in our sample likely reflects that there are fewer women than men who hold the city offices under investigation.