What is the point of benchmarking e-government? An integrative and critical literature review on the phenomenon of benchmarking e-government

Abstract

This literature review looks at research conducted on the phenomenon of benchmarking e-government during the years 2003 to 2016 and entails 27 articles. The review shows how this field has changed over time, its main findings and what the potential benefits are for the public sector in using the results from benchmarks. The findings reveal how initial research created taxonomies of benchmarks and criticised them for being too focused on measuring online services. This research was followed by even more criticism on how benchmarks can have a negative impact on e-government policy and development. During the same time-period there is research giving methodological support on how to improve ways of benchmarking. Later research offer theoretically and conceptually informed critique of benchmark-studies. The review finds that there are mainly implicit assumptions about the potential benefits in using benchmarks for improving e-government. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings in terms of the lack of context and relevance in benchmarks for e-government in relationship to the nature of public administration and makes suggestions for ways forward.