Patriarchy, pandemics, and the gendered resource curse thesis: Evidence from petroleum geology

Abstract

This study examines features shared by societies built around petroleum and the impact of COVID‐19. For our cross‐sectional analysis, we use epidemiological data on COVID‐19, country‐level long‐run oil production data, and data on petroleum geology for econometric identification. We first document that a country's long‐run oil production is associated with significantly higher COVID‐19 deaths. Exploring mechanisms, we find that women's election into political offices reduces the risk from COVID‐19, but only in oil‐poor countries. Furthermore, we find robust evidence that petroleum wealth reduces the percentage of women in parliament. These findings highlight the risk and plausible mechanisms of COVID‐19 vulnerability in oil‐exporting countries. Policymakers should be aware of these effects.