scholarly journals Is Digital Government Advancing Sustainable Governance? A Study of OECD/EU Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13603
Author(s):  
Jaromir Durkiewicz ◽  
Tomasz Janowski

International bodies and numerous authors advocate a key role for Digital Government (DG) in improving public governance and achieving other policy outcomes. Today, a particularly relevant outcome is advancing Sustainable Governance (SG), i.e., the capacity to steer and coordinate public action towards sustainable development. This article performs an empirical study of the relationship between DG and SG using data about 41 OECD/EU countries from the United Nations’ E-Government Survey and the Bertelsmann’s Sustainable Governance Indicators project, covering the period from 2014 to 2020. We examine if DG progress pairs with SG progress, apply a DEA model to find out which countries are efficient in using DG for better SG, and uncover cases of imbalance where high DG pairs with poor SG and vice versa. The results show that the efficiency in using DG for SG strongly varies, and that some DG leaders persistently fail to advance or even regress their SG. These findings refute the claims about the benign role of DG and points at democracy as the “weak link” in the analyzed relation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ran Xiong ◽  
Ping Wei

Confucian culture has had a deep-rooted influence on Chinese thinking and behavior for more than 2,000 years. With a manually created Confucian culture database and the 2017 China floating population survey, we used empirical analysis to test the relationship between Confucian culture and individual entrepreneurial choice using data obtained from China's floating population. After using the presence and number of Confucian schools and temples, and of chaste women as instrumental variables to counteract problems of endogeneity, we found that Confucian culture had a significant role in promoting individuals' entrepreneurial decision making among China's floating population. The results showed that, compared with those from areas of China not strongly influenced by Confucian culture, individuals from areas that are strongly influenced by Confucian culture were more likely to choose entrepreneurship as their occupation choice. Our findings reveal cultural factors that affect individual entrepreneurial behavior, and also illustrate the positive role of Confucianism as a representative of the typical cultures of the Chinese nation in the 21st century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7339
Author(s):  
Vânia Sofia Carvalho ◽  
Alda Santos ◽  
Maria Teresa Ribeiro ◽  
Maria José Chambel

The lockdown, in the COVID-19 pandemic, is considered an external crisis that evokes innumerous changes in individuals lives. One of the changes is the work and family dynamics. Based on boundary theory we examine the mediated role of work and family balance and boundary segmentation behavior in the relationship between boundary violations and teleworkers’ stress and well-being. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition the way teleworkers lead with boundary violations and boundary segmentation. Hypotheses were tested through moderated mediation modeling using data collected of 456 teleworkers during lockdown. In line with our expectations, teleworkers who have suffered most boundary violations were those with least boundary segmentation behaviors and with least work-family balance which, in turn was related to higher burnout and lower flourishing. Furthermore, gender was found to moderate the relationship between boundary violations from work-to-family and segmentation behavior in the same direction and this relationship was stronger for females than for males. We discuss implications for future research and for managing teleworkers, creating sustainability, both during a crise and stable days.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 1611-1622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won-Woo Park ◽  
Joon Yeol Lew ◽  
Eun Kyung Lee

We examined the relationship between team task knowledge diversity and team creativity, and the moderating role of team status inequality, with a focus on organizational tenure and rank inequality. By adopting an input–process–output framework, we hypothesized that teams would achieve high levels of creativity when they have a large pool of task-relevant expertise that is differentiated and specialized among team members, but the relationship would be weakened when team members have different statuses. We tested our hypotheses using data from 325 teams of employees at 10 companies in South Korea. Results showed that task knowledge diversity was positively associated with team creativity and a team's status inequality in terms of organizational tenure moderated the relationship in a negative way. Our findings contribute to the literature on team creativity by providing new insights regarding how status inequality, which is almost ubiquitous in workplaces, plays a role in a dynamic team process for creativity.


Author(s):  
Dimiter Toshkov

AbstractThe link between age and happiness has been the subject of numerous studies. It is still a matter of controversy whether the relationship is U-shaped, with happiness declining after youth before bouncing back in old age, or not. While the effect of age has been examined conditional on income and other socio-demographic variables, so far, the interactions between age and income have remained insufficiently explored. Using data from the European Social Survey, this article shows that the nature of the relationship between age and happiness varies strongly with different levels of relative income. People in the lowest decile of the income distribution experience a ‘hockey stick’: a deep decline in self-reported happiness until around age 50–55 and a small bounce back in old age. The classic U-curve is found mostly in the middle-income ranks. For people at the top of the income distribution, average happiness does not vary much with age. These results demonstrate the important role of income in moderating the relationship between age and happiness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-262
Author(s):  
Steven L Foy ◽  
Collin W Mueller

Scholars have increasingly noted mechanisms by which religion may be detrimental to one’s health, but few have explored how individuals understand linkages between religious involvement and adverse health. Using data gathered from telephone interviews with Protestants and Catholics in North Carolina and South Carolina, we explore how individuals understand the role of religious moral failure in shaping health consequences. When asked to discuss the relationship between religion and health, 23 respondents described experiences or beliefs regarding how failing to meet the expectations of their religion corresponded with a range of reduced mental and physical health outcomes. Findings underscore the need for additional research on the role of religious involvement and life course experiences in shaping expectations that health declines result from moral failure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 684-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Straube ◽  
Annika L. Meinecke ◽  
Kurt Schneider ◽  
Simone Kauffeld

Modern-day communication in teams is characterized by a frequent and flexible use of various communication technologies. To understand the relationship between this new way of communication and team performance, research suggests incorporating contextual factors. In this study, we explore the role of demographic faultlines and subsequent subgroup formation using data from 164 students nested in 34 software engineering teams working together over the course of 14 weeks. Multilevel modeling revealed a three-way interaction between media richness, communication intensity, and demographic faultlines on team performance. Weak faultline teams evaluated their performance more positively when they compensated for low communication intensity by using richer communication channels and vice versa. In contrast, strong faultline teams were less able to adapt their communication behavior to increase performance. We discuss theoretical implications for team communication and diversity research and provide guidelines for improving communication in diverse teams.


2011 ◽  
pp. 116-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Costas Panagopoulos

Emerging technology has provided public sector leaders with unprecedented opportunities to redefine the relationship between citizens and the state. Yet, even as leaders embrace the promise and possibilities afforded by digital government, there is little consensus about the political implications of digital government. While some experts expect little impact, others claim that advances in digital government will have significant political implications. This study assesses the political implications of digital government from an international perspective. Using data recently compiled by the United Nations (U.N.), the findings indicate that digital government is likely to produce significant political implications. Specifically, advances in digital government are likely to engender greater citizen support for government as well as higher levels of political participation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
Qilong Cao ◽  
Jing An

Boredom proneness has been linked to aggressive behaviors; however, the relationship between them is not well understood. To better understand the mechanism underlying the relationship between boredom proneness and aggression, a serial multiple mediator model was built, where boredom proneness impacted aggression simultaneously through (a) impulsivity, (b) trait anger, and (c) impulsivity to trait anger. Using data collected among Chinese substance users, a battery of interview questionnaires was completed. Results from this study indicate a positive relationship between boredom proneness, impulsivity, trait anger, and aggression. Moreover, the mediating role of impulsivity, trait anger, and both impulsivity and trait anger in serial were found. This study reflects that the link from boredom proneness to aggression among substances users could be partially explained via impulsivity and anger.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 405-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aboramadan ◽  
Abderrahman Hassi ◽  
Hatem Jamil Alharazin ◽  
Khalid Abed Dahleez ◽  
Belal Albashiti

Purpose As volunteering research in nonprofit organizations is growing significantly, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of volunteering drivers and work engagement on volunteer continuation will. Design/methodology/approach Building on empirical and theoretical perspectives, the authors hypothesized that work engagement mediates the relationship between volunteering drivers and volunteer continuation will. To verify our hypotheses, we examined data collected from 372 active volunteers from Palestinian nonprofit organizations. The authors conducted structural equations modeling (SEM) analyses using the AMOS 24 platform to investigate direct and indirect effects. Findings The results of the study show that work engagement is a significant predictor of volunteer continuation will; mediates the relationship between career driver of volunteering and volunteer continuation will; and mediates the relationship between the protective driver of volunteering and volunteer continuation will. Research limitations/implications The research design limits establishing cause and effect relationships among the examined variables. Practical implications The results of the current study may be of use for nonprofit organizations managers formulating effective recruitment and training policies to retain their volunteers. Originality/value The paper contributes to the limited empirical body of the volunteering research. The study is novel as it is one of the few studies conducted using data coming from a non-western context.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Lei ◽  
Phong Ba Le ◽  
Hanh Thi Hong Nguyen

The paper aims to clarify the influences of collaborative culture and specific aspects of organizational learning on competitive advantage. Structural equations modeling (SEM) is applied to test degree of influence of each variable has on each other through using data collected from 298 participants at 150 large manufacturing and service firms. The result shows that organizational learning act as mediating roles in the relationship between collaborative culture and competitive advantage. Our results indicate that collaborative culture practices will yield significant effects to competitive advantage directly or indirectly through improving specifics aspects of organizational learning. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis, which can be used to analyze relationships between collaborative culture, specifics aspects of organizational learning and competitive advantage. From a practical perspective, the study brings more deeply understanding for CEOs/managers about the necessary factors to encourage and promote firm’s competitive advantage.


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