Impact of E-government Development on the Level of Corruption: Measuring the Effects of Related Indices in Time and Dimensions

Issue: 2/2018

Jolana Volejníková

Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Studentská 84, 532 10 Pardubice, Czech Republic, jolana.volejnikova@upce.cz

Martin Lněnička

Department of System Engineering and Informatics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Studentská 84, 53210 Pardubice, martin.lnenicka@gmail.com

Renáta Máchová

Department of System Engineering and Informatics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Studentská 84, 53210 Pardubice, renata.machova@upce.cz

E-government is recognized as a tool for improving transparency and openness in the public sector and for combatting corruption. Understanding the relationship between e-government development and the level of corruption would allow for a more effective leveraging of related projects in anti-corruption efforts. This paper examines the impact of e-government development on the level of corruption in the context of economic perspective. In contrast to previous studies, this empirical relationship is measured across sub-indices (dimensions) of related indices between 2002 and 2016. The results show that higher levels of e-government development are related to lower levels of corruption. The three most important dimensions found are the environment sub-index, which assesses the extent to which a country’s market conditions and regulatory framework support entrepreneurship, innovation, and ICT development; the usage sub-index, which assesses the level of ICT adoption by a society’s main stakeholders; and the telecommunication infrastructure sub-index measuring a country’s ICT infra-structure capacity. Following these findings, certain ways of influencing of the level of corruption by a stimulation of concrete e-government development dimensions can be drawn. This is important especially in the time of a financial crisis and its consequences, which are also discussed in this paper.

Pages: 
99–121
DOI: 10.2478/revecp-2018-0006
JEL: C43, D73, H11, L86, O38
Keywords: correlation analysis, corruption, dimensions, e-government development, indices, regression models
References: 

AHMAD, N.; BROOKINS, O. T. (2007). The Impact of Corruption on Efficiency in Developing Economies. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1(2), 64–73.

ALADWANI, A. M. (2016). Corruption as a source of e-Government projects failure in developing countries: A theoretical exposition. International Journal of Information Management, 36(1), 105–112. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.10.005

ANDERSEN, T. B. (2009). E-Government as an anti-corruption strategy. Information Economics and Policy, 21(3), 201–210. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2008.11.003

ANDERSEN, T. B.; RAND, J. (2006). Does E-Government Reduce Corruption?. Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen’s Working Paper. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan047000.... Accessed 4 October 2017.

ARMANTIER, O.; BOLY A. (2011). A controlled field Experiment on Corruption. European Economic Review, 55(8), 1072–1082. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2011.04.007

ATTARD, J.; ORLANDI, F.; SCERRI, S.; AUER, S. (2015). A systematic review of open government data initiatives. Government Information Quarterly, 32(4), 399–418. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2015.07.006

BARDHAN, P. (1997). Corruption and Development: A Review of Issues. Journal of Economic Literature, 35(3), 1320–1346.

BERTOT, J. C.; JAEGER, P. T.; GRIMES, J. M. (2010). Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies. Government Information Quarterly, 27(3), 264–271. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.03.001

BERTOT, J. C.; JAEGER, P. T.; GRIMES, J. M. (2012). Promoting transparency and accountability through ICTs, social media, and collaborative e-government. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 6(1), 78–91. http://doi.org/10.1108/17506161211214831

BRUNETTI, A.; KISUNKO, G.; WEDER, B. (1998). Credibility of rules and economic growth: Evidence from a worldwide survey of the private sector. The World Bank Economic Review, 12(3), 353–384.

BUSSELL, J. (2011). Explaining Cross-National Variation in Government Adoption of New Technologies. International Studies Quarterly, 55(1), 267–280. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2478.2010.00644.x

CHRISTOU, G.; SIMPSON, S. (2009). New Governance, the Internet, and Country Code Top‐Level Domains in Europe. Governance, 22(4), 599–624. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2009.01455.x

ELBAHNASAWY, N. G. (2014). E-Government, Internet Adoption, and Corruption: An Empirical Investigation. World Development, 57, 114–126. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.12.005

ESCRESA, L.; PICCI, L. (2017). A New Cross-National Measure of Corruption. The World Bank Economic Review, 31(1), 196–219. http://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhv031

EVANS, A. M.; CAMPOS, A. (2013). Open Government Initiatives: Challenges of Citizen Participation. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 32(1), 172–185. http://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21651

GRÖNLUND, Å.; FLYGARE, A. M. (2011). The Effect of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes. In Andersen, K. N, et al. (Eds), Electronic Government and the Information Systems Perspective (pp. 235–248). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22961-9_19

GYIMAH-BREMPONG, K. (2002). Corruption, economic growth, and income inequality in Africa. Economics of Governance, 3(3), 183–209. http://doi.org/10.1007/s101010200045

HOPPER, T.; TSAMENYI, M.; UDDIN, S.; WICKRAMASINGHE, D. (2009). Management accounting in less developed countries: what is known and needs knowing. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 22(3), 469–514. http://doi.org/10.1108/09513570910945697

INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION. (2016). Measuring the Information Society Report 2016. Geneva: Telecommunication Development Bureau.

IVLEVS, A.; HINKS, T. (2015). Global economic crisis and corruption. Public Choice, 162(3-4), 425–445. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-014-0213-z

JAIN, A. K. (2001). Corruption: A Review. Journal of Economic Surveys, 15(1), 71–121. http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00133

KIM, C. K. (2007). A Cross-national Analysis of Global E-government. Public Organization Review, 7(4), 317–329. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-007-0040-5

KIM, C. K. (2014). Anti-Corruption Initiatives and E-Government: A Cross-National Study. Public Organization Review, 14(3), 385–396. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-013-0223-1

KIM, S.; KIM, H. J.; LEE, H. (2009). An institutional analysis of an e-government system for anti-corruption: The case of OPEN. Government Information Quarterly, 26(1), 42–50. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2008.09.002

KNACK, S.; KEEFER, P. (1995). Institutions and economic performance: cross‐country tests using alternative institutional measures. Economics & Politics, 7(3), 207–227. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0343.1995.tb00111.x

KNĚZÁČKOVÁ, R.; LINHARTOVÁ, V. (2013). Impact of e-government at the level of corruption. In The 7th International Days of Statistics and Economics (pp. 621–630). Slaný: Melandrium.

KRISHNAN, S.; TEO, T. S. H.; LIM, V. K. G. (2013). Examining the relationships among e-government maturity, corruption, economic prosperity and environmental degradation: A cross-country analysis. Information & Management, 50(8), 638–649. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2013.07.003

LEITE, C. A.; WEIDMANN, J. (1999). Does Mother Nature Corrupt? Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic Growth. IMF Working Paper No. 99/85. http://ssrn.com/abstract=259928. Accessed 4 October 2017.

LINDSTEDT, C.; NAURIN, D. (2010). Transparency is not Enough: Making Transparency Effective in Reducing Corruption. International Political Science Review, 31(3), 301–322. http://doi.org/10.1177/0192512110377602

LINHARTOVÁ, V. (2017). The role of e-government in mitigating corruption. Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice - Series D, Faculty of Economics and Administration, 40, 120–131.

LNĚNIČKA, M. (2014). Deployment of Big Data Analytics Approaches in the Public Administration and Comparison of IT Performance Indicators. In Špalková, D., Matějová, L. (Eds), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference Current Trends in Public Sector Research (pp. 162–169). Brno: Masaryk University.

LUPU, D.; LAZAR, C. G. (2015). Influence of e-government on the level of corruption in some EU and non-EU States. Procedia Economics and Finance, 20, 365–371. http://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00085-4

MÁCHOVÁ, R. (2017). Measuring the Effects of Open Data on the Level of Corruption. In Špalková, D., Matějová, L. (Eds), Proceedings of the 21th International Conference Current Trends in Public Sector Research (pp. 58–66). Brno: Masaryk University.

MÁCHOVÁ, R.; LNĚNIČKA, M. (2015). Reframing E-Government Development Indices with Respect to New Trends in ICT. Review of Economic Perspectives, 15(4), 383–411. http://doi.org/10.1515/revecp-2015-0027

MÁCHOVÁ, R.; LNĚNIČKA, M. (2016a). Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in the Public Sector. In Špalková, D., Matějová, L. (Eds), Proceedings of the 20th International Conference Current Trends in Public Sector Research (pp. 36–44). Brno: Masaryk University.

MÁCHOVÁ, R.; LNĚNIČKA, M. (2016b). Modelling E-Government Development through the Years Using Cluster Analysis. eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (JeDEM), 8(1), 62–83.

MÁCHOVÁ, R.; LNĚNIČKA, M. (2017). Evaluating the Quality of Open Data Portals on the National Level. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 12(1), 21–41. http://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-18762017000100003

MAURO, P. (1995). Corruption and Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(3), 681–712. http://doi.org/10.2307/2946696

MAURO, P. (1997). The Effects of Corruption on Growth, Investment, and Government Expenditure: A Cross-Country Analysis. In K. A. Elliot (Ed.), Corruption and the global economy (pp. 83–107). Washington D.C.: Institute for International Economics.

MISTRY, J. J.; JALAL, A. (2012). An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between E-government and Corruption. The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research, 12, 145–176. http://doi.org/10.4192/1577-8517-v12_6

MO, P. H. (2001). Corruption and Economic Growth. Journal of Comparative Economics, 29(1), 66–79. http://doi.org/10.1006/jcec.2000.1703

NARDO, M., et al. (2008). Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and user Guide. Paris: OECD Publishing.

OJHA, A.; PALVIA, S.; GUPTA, M. P. (2008). A Model for Impact of E-Government on Corruption: Exploring Theoretical Foundations. In J. Bhattacharya (Ed.), Critical Thinking in E-Governance (pp. 160–170). New Delhi: Gift Publishing.

OLKEN, B. A. (2009). Corruption perceptions vs. corruption reality. Journal of Public Economics, 93(7-8), 950–964. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.03.001

PÉREZ, C. C.; HERNÁNDEZ, A. M. L.; BOLÍVAR, M. P. R. (2005). Citizens’ access to on-line governmental financial information: Practices in the European Union countries. Government Information Quarterly, 22(2), 258–276. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2005.02.002

PRASAD, A.; SHIVARAJAN, S. (2015). Understanding the role of technology in reducing corruption: a transaction cost approach. Journal of Public Affairs, 15(1), 22–39. http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1484

RAMASWAMY, M.; SELIAN, A. N. (2009). The Role of E-Government in Combating Corruption in Transition Countries. Issues in Information Systems, 10(2), 66–75.

SELIGSON, M. (2006). The Measurement and Impact of Corruption Victimization: Survey Evidence from Latin America. World Development, 34(2), 381–404. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.03.012

SIAU, K.; LONG, Y. (2006). Using Social Development Lenses to Understand E-Government Development. Journal of Global Information Management, 14(1), 47–62. http://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.2006010103

SHAHKOOH, K. A.; FASANGHARI, M.; ABDOLLAHI, A. (2008). Clustering the Countries According to Relation Between E-Government and Transparency. In 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies: From Theory to Applications (ICTTA 2008) (pp. 1–5). IEEE. http://doi.org/10.1109/ICTTA.2008.4529952

SHIM, D. C.; EOM, T. H. (2008). E-government and Anti-Corruption: Empirical Analysis of International Data. International Journal of Public Administration, 31(3), 298–316. http://doi.org/10.1080/01900690701590553

SHIM, D. C.; EOM, T. H. (2009). Anticorruption effects of information communication and technology (ICT) and social capital. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 75(1), 99–116. http://doi.org/10.1177/0020852308099508

SRIVASTAVA, S. C.; TEO, T. S. H.; DEVARAJ, S. (2016). You can’t bribe a computer: dealing with the societal challenge of corruption through ICT. MIS Quarterly, 40(2), 511–526.

TANZI, V.; DAVOODI, H. (2001). Corruption, growth, and public finances. In A. K. Jain (Ed.), The Political Economy of Corruption (pp. 89–110). London: Routledge.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL. (2016). Corruption Perceptions Index 2015. Berlin: Transparency International.

TREISMAN, D. (2007). What Have We Learned About the Causes of Corruption From Ten Years of Cross-National Empirical Research?. Annual Review of Political Science, 10, 211–244. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.081205.095418

UNITED NATIONS. (2016). United Nations e-Government Survey 2016: E-Government in Support of Sustainable Development. New York: UN Publishing Section.

VAN AAKEN, A.; FELD, L.; VOIGT, S. (2010). Do Independent Prosecutors Deter Political Corruption? An Empirical Evaluation across Seventy-Eight Countries. American Law and Economics Review, 12(1), 204–244. http://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahq002

WEI, S. J. (2001). Corruption in Economic Transition and Development: Grease or Sand?. UNECE Spring Seminar. http://karmayog.org/anticorruption/upload/914/Wei.pdf. Accessed 4 October 2017.

WEST, D. M. (2004). E‐Government and the Transformation of Service Delivery and Citizen Attitudes. Public Administration Review, 64(1), 15–27. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00343.x

WHITE, H. (1980). A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity. Econometrica, 48(4), 817–838. http://doi.org/10.2307/1912934

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM. (2016). The Global Information Technology Report 2016: Innovating in the Digital Economy. Geneva: SRO-Kundig.