From emerging to connected e-government: The effects of socioeconomics and internal administration characteristics

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explain the development of e-government using a new measure of the content, presentation, navigability and interaction of the websites created by public administrations as illustrated in the United Nations 2008 report, Services Delivery by Stages. These results differ from previous empirical analyses, showing that citizens' economic and education levels are not the main factors driving the development of digital administration. On the contrary, the sophisticated design of e-government seems to be linked strongly to the idea of a new public management defined by organizations such as OECD, as well as a North American style of economic development.