E-governance and sustainable human development in Asia: a dynamic institutional path perspective

Abstract

Purpose: This study demonstrates the necessary and significant role of national formal institutional frameworks in shaping the quality of e-governance in Asian countries. Moreover, it presents a robust model of e-governance as a necessary and significant driver of sustainable human development. Design/methodology/approach: This study applied the cross-lagged panel method in path modelling and conducted competing model and necessary condition analyses to test the lagged, necessary and positive effects of formal institutions on the level of e-governance and sustainable human development in 45 Asian countries from 2012 to 2022. Findings: Formal governance institutions have necessary direct and indirect (through e-governance development) causal effects on a country’s sustainable human development. Research limitations/implications: Future studies should explore how informal institutions such as culture, industry and government norms and practices shape the extent of e-governance development and sustainable socio-economic development in Asia and beyond over time. Practical implications: A renewed focus on the institutional fundamentals of governance and development should be the legislative priority of policymakers and leaders of Asian countries. Social implications: Proactive digital citizen engagement in institutional building in respective countries is critical to developing sound, human-development-centred institutional governance in Asia. Originality/value: The study presents robust necessary condition models that offer more nuanced explanations of the institutional imperatives of enabling Asian countries to strengthen their e-governance towards sustainable human development.