Government E-Commerce Adoption

ABSTRACT This article examines the adoption of electronic commerce or e-commerce in county governments. This study uses Texas as a case study of e-commerce adoption because it is the second largest state in the United States in terms of population. The existing literature on e-government has primarily examined the adoption of e-government and has not focused specifically on e-commerce usage in local governments, an important subset of e-government. This study attempts to determine the extent of shifting into stage two of e-government adoption, namely, online transactions. This article defines e-commerce as the subset of e-government that involves the exchange of money for goods and services purchased from governments. The study uses a survey of Texas county treasurers conducted in early 2005 of their e-commerce offerings. A Website content analysis was also conducted for county governments in Texas. The two most commonly offered e-commerce services that counties provide are online payment of property taxes and vehicle registration. The survey results and Website content analysis revealed that around a third of Texas counties had an e-commerce Website. For counties that had an e-commerce Website, improved customer service was the most commonly cited impact. The most frequently reported management barrier to e-commerce adoption concerns problems with transaction or convenience fees. Having an e-commerce Website was associated with being a large county government.

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