Online Interaction With Public Authorities in the EU Countries: What Makes a Difference

Abstract

In the new economy, governed by technological progress and informational abundance, e-government service represents one of the drivers of the digital economy and society. The government and its institutions have the role of stimulating, leading, and controlling the process of transition to the digital society, which is a key component for the future prosperity and resilience of the European Union (EU). With focus on a better functioning of society by improving the citizens' access and use of e-government services, in this work we aim to identify the factors that influence the online interaction of individuals with public authorities in the EU member states. We used panel data for the EU member states in the period 2013–2021 to investigate the determinants of individuals' interaction with public authorities through institutional websites, using clustering regression with fixed effects, which allows both the clustering of the states and obtaining different slope parameters for each cluster. The results indicated the grouping of the EU states in an optimal number of two clusters, and the fixed effects regression clustering pointed out different coefficients for the two clusters, indicating distinct patterns. The main factors that influence the online interaction of citizens with public authorities are related to internet use, education, and government effectiveness, but the impact is different for the two clusters, depending on the specifics of the component countries.

Citation

Vasilescu, M.D., Stănilă, L., Cristescu, A. and Militaru, E. (2023), "Online Interaction With Public Authorities in the EU Countries: What Makes a Difference", Akkaya, B., Apostu, S.A., Hysa, E. and Panait, M. (Ed.) Digitalization, Sustainable Development, and Industry 5.0, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 189-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-190-520231011