Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2021-0013
Enterprise Digital Divide: Website e-Commerce Functionalities among European Union Enterprises
Božidar Jaković
; The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb
Tamara Ćurlin
; The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb
Ivan Miloloža
; The University of Osijek, Faculty for Dental Medicine & Health, Osijek
Abstract
Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gained prevalent organizational and structural value in the modern economy. E-commerce is one of the sectors directly influenced by technological change. However, not all countries have the same opportunities to develop e-commerce growth; there are significant discrepancies in ICT utilization worldwide, known as the digital divide. Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to explore the level of difference among European countries regarding the e-commerce functionalities in their enterprises using a cluster analysis. Methods/Approach: To accomplish the paper goal, the k-means cluster analysis was conducted on the Eurostat data from 2019. Enterprises from 28 European countries were taken into consideration. The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to explore if the differences among clusters regarding the digital development, measured by the Digital Economy and Society Index are significant. Results: The investigation confirmed that there are significant differences among European countries regarding the development of e-commerce. However, a similar level of e-commerce is not related to economic and digital development. Conclusions: Since the relationship between economic development and e-commerce development in European countries is not linear, country-level policies are likely to be significant factors driving e-commerce development, which leads to the need for further investigation of this issue.
Keywords
e-commerce; website functionalities; digital divide; European Union
Hrčak ID:
258031
URI
Publication date:
28.5.2021.
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