Explaining the Varying Levels of Adoption of E-government Services in American Municipal Government

Abstract

Technological innovations offer opportunities for governments to connect with citizens and improve service provision efficiency and effectiveness, but why do some governments adopt these innovations while others do not? Using a mixed methodological approach, including interviews with city officials and multivariate analysis of a novel data set of municipal e-government service offerings, we examine what factors motivate or impede city officials from innovating. Overall, we find that cities with the council–manager form of government, with larger populations, and with more financial resources adopt more e-government services. Specifically, as total revenue per capita increases, cities are more likely to adopt payment-based services and informational services. Increased spending on central staff is associated with higher rates of adoption of interactive services and social media. The results suggest that council–manager governments are more innovative and that local governments consider both the up-front costs and the need for ongoing staff associated with particular innovations.