Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis
This article empirically assesses the relationship between government use of the web, service performance, and cost‐effectiveness. It tests and challenges the assumption, prevalent in government thinking and in the Digital Era Governance (DEG) quasi‐paradigm, that the delivery of web‐based public se...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019
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| _version_ | 1826267217407246336 |
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| author | Nicholls, T |
| author_facet | Nicholls, T |
| author_sort | Nicholls, T |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article empirically assesses the relationship between government use of the web, service performance, and cost‐effectiveness. It tests and challenges the assumption, prevalent in government thinking and in the Digital Era Governance (DEG) quasi‐paradigm, that the delivery of web‐based public services is associated with better outcomes. English local government is used as a test case, for which (uniquely) good‐quality full‐population time‐series data for council performance, cost, and web quality are available. A new panel data set is constructed covering 2002–2008, allowing the actual relationship between web performance and council cost and quality to be estimated using dynamic regression models which control for both general changes over time and the time‐invariant differences between councils. Consistent growth is shown in the scope and quality of local government web provision. Despite this, and governmental enthusiasm for bringing services online, no association is found between web development and performance, or cost‐effectiveness. The article concludes that governments’ enthusiasm for citizen‐facing digital government is not supported by this empirical data, and that a skeptical view is warranted of DEG's advocacy of digitalization as a core focus for service improvement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:50:48Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:3781c33f-a1b2-4452-a2e2-e1afcfbd4cee |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:50:48Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:3781c33f-a1b2-4452-a2e2-e1afcfbd4cee2022-03-26T13:44:25ZLocal government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysisJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:3781c33f-a1b2-4452-a2e2-e1afcfbd4ceeEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordWiley2019Nicholls, TThis article empirically assesses the relationship between government use of the web, service performance, and cost‐effectiveness. It tests and challenges the assumption, prevalent in government thinking and in the Digital Era Governance (DEG) quasi‐paradigm, that the delivery of web‐based public services is associated with better outcomes. English local government is used as a test case, for which (uniquely) good‐quality full‐population time‐series data for council performance, cost, and web quality are available. A new panel data set is constructed covering 2002–2008, allowing the actual relationship between web performance and council cost and quality to be estimated using dynamic regression models which control for both general changes over time and the time‐invariant differences between councils. Consistent growth is shown in the scope and quality of local government web provision. Despite this, and governmental enthusiasm for bringing services online, no association is found between web development and performance, or cost‐effectiveness. The article concludes that governments’ enthusiasm for citizen‐facing digital government is not supported by this empirical data, and that a skeptical view is warranted of DEG's advocacy of digitalization as a core focus for service improvement. |
| spellingShingle | Nicholls, T Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title | Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title_full | Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title_fullStr | Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title_short | Local government performance, cost‐effectiveness, and use of the web: An empirical analysis |
| title_sort | local government performance cost effectiveness and use of the web an empirical analysis |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nichollst localgovernmentperformancecosteffectivenessanduseofthewebanempiricalanalysis |