Net-Based Customer Service Systems : Functionalities ∗

Abstract

I propose a quantitative methodology to analyze the economic impact of e-government based on structural modeling, allowing for a careful description of the underlying theoretical assumptions and for an assessment of different policy scenarios. The transparent relation between the theory and the results obtained is an advantage with respect to purely narrative methods. The methodology departs significantly both from studies in the cost- benefit analysis tradition and from the analysis of ‘‘e-readiness’’ indexes, whose purpose is a quan- tification of preconditions for successful policies. An illustration of the method is provided, using data from the Italian region of Tuscany. ?