Digital Divide and the Study of Electronic Government Demand. An Empirical Analysis of Spain

This paper will analyze data about the demand-side of electronic government (e-Government) in Spain. While the research of the supply-side of e-Government has grown during the last decade very rapidly, the study of the demand of e-Government services has not been so intense. Hence, this chapter will profile the features of the users of e-Government in Spain and the variables explaining their use of e-Government services. In particular, this chapter will tackle the following questions with regard to Spain: (1) Which factors predict the use of Internet by citizens? (2) How can be described the uses of and perceptions about e-Government? And finally, (3) which factors determine the e-Government usage?

This paper is rooted in the study of the demand of e-Government. This strand of the e-Government literature has flourished in recent times with some studies and still reflects the lack of scholarly dialogue (Rodríguez-Bolivar, et al., 2010). This chapter will try to overcome this problem with the attention to and dialogue with the most recent literature on e-Government demand coming from different national contexts, including Australia and New Zealand (Gauld et al. 2012); Canada (Reddick & Turner, 2012); USA (Nam, 2012); or Malaysia (Mohamed & Hussein, 2009). At the same time, this chapter will pay attention to the Spanish case, one of the European forerunners in the supply-side, at the same time lagging behind in terms of users and demand-side, among other aspects (AEVAL, 2011; Criado, 2010).

The analysis of this paper will use a national survey of the Center for Sociological Research (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas) in Spain. This study is based on a sample of 2,500 respondents (N=2,500), and provides information about the quality of public services, in general, including the digital channel of provision. Particularly, we will present socio-demographic and technical variables to better understand the demand of Internet and the use of e-Government. Then, we will deploy a statistical analysis in two phases. On the one hand, a descriptive analysis will be used in order to profile the sample distribution of variables and the uses of and perceptions about e-Government. On the other, logistic regression will be applied both for the understanding of the use of Internet and the factors determining the e-Government usage in Spain. In sum, this chapter will provide insights on the demand-side of e-Government in Spain, using reliable data derived from a national survey, and the final purpose of giving ideas with interest both for academics and practitioners.

 

 

References

 

AEVAL. (2011). La Administración Pública a Juicio de los Ciudadanos, Madrid: Agencia Estatal de Evaluación de las Políticas Públicas y la Calidad de los Servicios.

Criado, J. I. (2010). The Politics of E-government in Spain: Between Recent Innovations and Old Inertias. In Ch. Reddick (ed.) Comparative E-Government, New York: Springer, 275-297.

Gauld, R., Goldfinch, S., & Horsburgh, S. (2010). Do they want it? Do they use it? The “Demand-Side” of e-Government in Australia and New Zealand. Government Information Quarterly, 27(2), 177-186.

Nam, T. (2012). Citizensʼ attitudes toward Open Government and Government 2.0. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 78(2), 346-368.

Mohamed, N., Hussin, H., & Hussein, R. (2009). Measuring Users’ Satisfaction with Malaysia’s Electronic Government Systems. Electronic Journal of eGovernment, 7(3), 283-293.

Reddick, C. G., & Turner, M. (2012). Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery. Government Information Quarterly, 29(1), 1-11.

Rodríguez-Bolivar, M.P., Alcaide-Muñoz, L. & López-Hernández, A.M. (2010). Trends of E-Government Research. Contextualization and Research Opportunities. The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research Vol. 10, pp. 87-111