Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1863828
The digital divide and E-government in European economies
Valerija Botrić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5482-7490
Ljiljana Božić
Abstract
Even though the Internet usage is perceived to be widespread,
senior citizens are relatively more reluctant to adopt new technologies. By relying on the Eurostat’s Community Statistics on
Information Society (CSIS) microdata for the period 2008–2017, we
explore recent evolution of the digital divide across Europe. We
analyse the difference in adoption of e-governance by younger
and older Internet users as well as their reasons for not using egovernment services (specifically by submitting completed forms
to public authorities). Additionally, we seek to identify factors that
determine the difference in the reluctance to adopt e-governance
services by senior citizens and the young. By adopting Heckman
selection methodology, we establish three categories of factors:
those that have different effects for young and old (gender,
household size, and population density), those having similar
effects (economic activity), and those that have adverse effects for
the young and the old (education). Based on empirical results, we
suggest following venues for EU-wide policy actions: special attention should be given to older population in sparsely populated
areas, specialised learning activities should be developed for older
citizens with additional effort to promote inclusion of older
women to participate in these learning activities.
Keywords
Digital divide; e-government; European Union; internet access
Hrčak ID:
301467
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2021.
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