Can a National Requirement Affect the Gender-Balance Approach?

Abstract

In 2009, Italian law required, at public administration, to provides a report on performance and gender. We ask how regulatory provision has affected Italian regions, because these last have a special responsibility in the adoption of standards related to gender. The aim of the paper is to fill up the information gap existing and to investigate practices adopted as a result of national legislation. The results show that the implementation of gender budget is timidly brought by Italian region. Therefore, we conclude that the presence of a standard does not necessarily create the conditions for public administration to adopt a gender approach, and more attention to the gender issue is required.