Does External Environment Affect E-Government? A Cross- Country Analysis - Information and Communication Technologies in Public Administration - page 66

3.2.4 Economy and E-Government
The economy serves as a foundation for e-government development at the coun-
try level. Countries with higher per capita gross domestic product are better able
to afford and support e-government (Das et al., 2009). A solid economy enables
the government to provide consistent and adequate funds to use technology and
human resources to develop e-government, as well as provides a sound base for the
government to improve e-government, as a good economy is the precondition for
the type of infrastructural development that provides citizens with more comput-
ers and Internet access. Countries with higher per-capita gross domestic product
are in a better position to afford pervasive, high-quality physical ICT infrastruc-
ture (Singh et al., 2007; Zheng & Holzer, 2013), enabling citizens to have more
access to e-government services. In summary, a solid economy should serve as
a foundation to develop the type of infrastructure that promotes e-government
development.
Lipset's observation that democracy is related to economic development, first
advanced in 1959, has generated the largest body of research on any topic in com-
parative politics (Przeworski & Limongi, 1997). Although the relationship between
economy and democracy is complex, many scholars still believe that rich countries
are more likely to be democratic. In addition, it is widely accepted that educational
strength and economic strength are linked. Higher levels of education should pro-
vide more qualified employees, wiser leaders, more innovative technologies, and
better management, all of which would help economic development. At the same
time, higher levels of economy would provide a strong base and adequate funding
for education in better facilities and teaching environments while enabling more
citizens to extend their education's duration. Therefore, based on the arguments
above, the following hypotheses can be built:
H7: Countries with higher levels of economic development have higher levels of
Internet usage.
H8: Countries with higher levels of economic development have higher levels of
democracy.
H9: Economic development is positively correlated with education at the country level.
3.2.5 Peer Pressure and E-Government
The development of a country is impacted by that of the countries around it due
to the effect of peer pressure. Ho and Ni (2004) used the case study of the Iowa
County Treasurer's offices to explain the adoption of e-government features. They
argued that peer influence is another external factor that may facilitate innovation
adoption, especially when the net benefit of an innovation is difficult to assess.