| dc.description.abstract | Since 2001, researchers have concluded women may be less corrupt than men. Although adequate research about women and corruption was identified for this study, a gap linking women in government, corruption, and foreign direct investment (FDI) existed. This cross-sectional, nonexperimental study examined the effect of the number of women in government on FDI through corruption and national expenses on healthcare. Structural equation modeling using two mediated path models was used to test relationships between observable variables.
Results included statistically significant relationships between the number of women in governments and lower levels of perceived corruption, between lower levels of perceived corruption and greater expenses on healthcare, and between greater expenses on healthcare and increased FDI countries received. Although no statistically significant direct relationship was identified between the number of women in governments and FDI, significant study results included a fully mediated, indirect relationship between them. That is, as the number of women increased within governments, levels of perceived corruption decreased, national expenses on healthcare increased, and FDI in turn increased.
This research treated women in government as the independent variable. In other words, it treated women as vital human resources – potential solutions for increasing FDI – not just beneficiaries from assistances.
Ultimately, this study provided empirical results on which professionals and institutions can base and financially justify investments to improve gender equity within governments. To apply this research, recommendations were made to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Strategy on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance. These recommendations included recognizing women as vital human resources, not merely beneficiaries of programmatic activity.
This research provides empirical results on which human resource development (HRD) professionals can base practice decisions. National HRD practitioners who craft gender-specific interventions to vertically integrate human resource development may not only reduce gender inequalities, but also contribute to reducing corruption, increasing the allocation of governmental resources to healthcare, and ultimately improving FDI. | en |
