E-Government Maturity, Gender Inequality and Role of Government Effectiveness: A Longitudinal Study Across Countries

Understanding the role of e-government in driving governments’ development agenda has received attention from academicians and policymakers. Despite this, there is a dearth of research focusing on the higher-order impact of e-government at a macro level, such as sustainable development goals. This paper explores the relationship between e-government maturity and gender inequality (SDG 5). Drawing on empowerment theory, we examine how e-government maturity may help reduce gender inequality in the country. Moreover, based on institutional theory, we look at the potential role of government effectiveness in influencing the impact of e-government maturity on gender inequality. The study uses publicly available data from well-known sources. We provide empirical results supporting the proposed relationships using two-way fixed effect regression on a balanced panel dataset of 139 countries from 2003 to 2020. Our findings suggest a significant negative relationship exists between e-government maturity and gender inequality. Additionally, government effectiveness provides a considerable moderation effect between e-government maturity and gender inequality. We also validate our results through robustness checks. This study contributes to the literature on e-government impact and the role of institutional factors in realizing the benefits of e-government. Based on the findings, we provide implications for both research and practice.