Institutional Pressures, Policy Attention, and e-Government Service Capability: Evidence from China’s Prefecture-Level Cities

Abstract

Exploring the “institutional pressures – policy attention – innovation performance” link is essential for public managers to address the differentiated development between regions for e-government service capability (EGSC). This study examines the influence of institutional pressures on EGSC, and mediation roles of e-government attention between them by integrating attention-based view and neo-institutional theory. By analyzing a panel dataset from 333 prefectures in China, we identify EGSC, policy attention, and three types of institutional pressures, namely coercive, mimetic, and normative (media and public). Empirical evidence reveals that coercive, mimetic, public normative pressure had significant positive impacts on EGSC. Furthermore, e-government attention mediated the effects of coercive, mimetic, and public normative pressure on EGSC, respectively. The findings enrich our understanding of the crucial role of policy attention in explaining the e-government performance differentiation phenomenon accompanied by institutional pressures.

Keywords:

• e-government service capability
• institutional pressures
• policy attention

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 72134005, 71974128], and the Ministry of Education of China [grant numbers 19JZD022].

Notes on contributors

Taiting Pan

Taiting Pan is in School of Economics and Management, Harbin Engineering University, China

Bo Fan

Bo Fan is in School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University - Xuhui Campus, China