Global e-government development: besides the relative wealth of countries, do policies matter?

Abstract

This study investigates whether, discounting the effect of the relative wealth of countries, it is possible to observe the relevance of policies for e-government development. The deviations of countries' results from what could be expected, considering their relative wealth is calculated by using the residuals of a linear regression using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as the independent variable and the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) as the dependent variable. The countries that achieve better and worse results than expected are then identified and their cases are analyzed by resorting to secondary sources, namely published research referring to their cases. Those research documents were identified by successively searching the Scopus database, the Google Scholar database and the Web. The existence of formal e-government strategies and plans and the capacity to implement them can make a difference, allowing countries to achieve better results than expected or, in their absence, to perform worse than expected. The proposed methodology can be useful to e-government researchers, particularly as a basis for deeper and more detailed studies. Countries should invest in well-developed and focused strategies and invest in continuity of public policies and their capacity to deliver results. For that purpose, political commitment and high-level coordination are key factors. For low-income countries, long lasting cooperation with external experienced partners is crucial. For high-income countries, innovative thinking is a key enabler. This study uses an innovative method to look beyond the effect of the relative wealth of countries and investigate the relevance of public policies for e-government development.