Abstract
This study is the first to empirically examine the impact of e-government on economic growth in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The dataset used in the study covers the period 2003-2018 and is obtained from the World Development Indicators and the United Nations E-Government knowledgebase. The conducted empirical analysis brings out many interesting findings. First, there is evidence that the e-government development stimulated economic growth in GCC during the last two decades. Second, when considering the different components of e-government, it has been shown that only the Online Service Index and the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index have positive effects on economic growth. Finally, it has been also revealed that out from six countries, the positive impact of e-government is proved in only four countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In Oman and Qatar, the effect is not statistically significant. Global and country-specific policy recommendations are accordingly presented.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundDuring the last decades, significant achievements regarding technological progress have been reached
Results show that the coefficient is positive and significant at the 99 % likelihood, which means that the coefficient is highly significant
Results show that coefficients of the Online Service Index and the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index are positive and statistically significant in the group of GCC
Summary
Introduction and BackgroundDuring the last decades, significant achievements regarding technological progress have been reached. It has been often advanced that the adoption of new technologies is of great importance since it facilitates the access to services for citizens, supports economic growth, and improves the well-being of nations. The adoption of new technologies has touched almost all economic sectors, such as industry, agriculture, and transportation. One of the crucial features of the emergence of new technologies in modern societies is undoubtedly the adoption of electronic government (e-government). The concept of egovernment came out in the mid-nineties of the last century [1] and has been developed first in developed countries and in developing ones. The U.S E-Government Act of 2002 defines egovernment as “the use by the Government of web-based Internet applications and other information technologies, combined with processes that implement these technologies” [2]
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