The document examines the relationship between eGovernment and corruption by analyzing different corruption and eGovernment indexes. It finds that corruption indexes are generally consistent, but eGovernment indexes show a wide variety in how well they predict reductions in corruption. The study finds the Economist index best predicts lower corruption, as it considers a country's ICT infrastructure and usage more broadly than indexes focused only on government websites. The document concludes that an effective index for measuring eGovernment's impact on corruption needs a broad scope that considers technology usage and governance issues rather than just online presence.

1. The Effect of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Å ke Gr ö nlund, Ann-Marie Flygare See also research paper Grönlund, Å., Flygare, A-M. (2011) The Effect of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes . Electronic Government and the Information Systems Perspective . Lecture Notes in Computer Science , 2011, Volume 6866/2011, 235-248, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-22961-9_19. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/f645xk150k715725/

2. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes eGovernment and resulting benefits “ E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies” - World Bank (2011) The resulting benefits (World Bank, 2011) Less corruption Increased transparency Greater convenience Revenue growth, and/or Cost reductions - By bypassing human agents who may be susceptible to bribes - By facilitating monitoring and audit of activities - By forcing governments to formalize services in order to be able to automate them

3. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes eGovernment and resulting benefits However, the theory behind ‘the resulting benefits’ has so far been hard to investigate. However, studies show positive correlation between the implementation of eGovernment and reduction in corruption However, these studies are inconclusive as well as incompatible as they only pick some indexes and variables out of a large set

4. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Research problems Overall research problem : Does improvement in eGovernment lead to reduction of corruption in a country? RQ 1: Are corruption indexes consistent in measuring corruption? RQ 2: Do eGov indexes consistently predict corruption over time? RQ 3: Which eGov index or indexes is/are the best predictor/s of reduction in corruption? RQ 4: What makes an eGov index better than another in predicting effects on corruption?

5. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Indexes used CCI – Corruption Control Index (World Bank) CPI – Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International)

6. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Indexes used CPI, covering almost 200 countries, uses data from 14 sources originated from 12 independent institutions. It measures perceptions of the extent of petty corruption, bribery. Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

7. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Indexes used CCI, covering around 200 countries, captures perceptions of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by elites and private interests. Control of Corruption Index (CCI) CCI is a composite of 6 governance indicators created from several hundred variables derived from 32 different data providers.

8. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes eGovernment indexes The UN eGov index (EGDI) is based on a comprehensive survey of the online presence of all Member States. EGDI is a weighted average of scope and quality of online services, telecommunication connectivity, and human capacity. ITU ICT Development Index (IDI) captures the level of advancement of ICTs in 159 countries worldwide. It also measures the global digital divide and examines how it has developed in recent years. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) index covering 70 countries measures the quality of a country’s ICT infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefits. Over 100 separate criteria are scored on their relative presence in a country’s economic, political or social landscape.

9. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes eGovernment indexes Brown University’s index reviews government Web sites of 198 countries . The sites include executive, legislative and judicial offices as well as such departments and ministries of the government The Waseda index covers 30 to 50 countries and measures infrastructure, management, web site features, and 9 selected e-services.

10. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes RQ1: Are corruption indexes consistent? Yes. A high linear dependence between the two corruption indices

11. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes RQ 2: Do eGovernment indexes consistently predict corruption? No. A wide variety in correlation ranging from a poor 0.49 to a strong 0.95.

12. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes RQ 3: Which eGovernment index(es) best predict reduction in corruption? The Economist index is very strong as it shows a fairly straight line, while the West/Brown indexes rather random scatter.

13. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes RQ 4: What makes an eGovernment index better than another in predicting effects on corruption? The problem for the indexes not scoring well is not the data collection method, but the focus. Looking only at web sites is pointless.

14. The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes Concluding remarks What makes an eGovernment index better than another in predicting effects on corruption is the scope of the index Inspection of the fight against corruption shows that it is a governance issue rather than a government one Popular web site measurements do not seem to be able to measure government realities Technology matters, but not by itself but by the way it is put to use

15. Thank you Swedish Business School Ö rebro University The Effects of eGovernment on Corruption: Measuring Robustness of Indexes For further query, please email to : [email_address]