This study investigates the impact of e-Government initiatives on public happiness through ordered probit analysis. Utilizing data from two distinct sources—a survey measuring happiness levels and a provincial e-Government Index—the research uncovers significant insights. Specifically, it identifies a notable negative relationship between the advancement of e-Government initiatives and public happiness levels. Robustness tests, instrumental variable analyses, and heterogeneity assessments further substantiate these findings. Moreover, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the influence of technological advancements in public sector on citizen happiness. It underscores the necessity for nuanced policy interventions to align technological progress with societal welfare objectives. These findings offer valuable guidance for policymakers navigating the evolving landscape of digital governance practices in their pursuit of enhancing citizen well-being.
AdamI. O. (2020). Examining E-government development effects on corruption in Africa: The mediating effects of ICT development and institutional quality. Technology in Society, 61, 101245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101245
2.
AdmajaA. F. S.AriansyahK. (2017). The barriers of long term evolution (LTE) adoption: Indonesian consumers perspective. 2017 International Conference on Broadband Communication, Wireless Sensors and Powering (BCWSP), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/BCWSP.2017.8272567
3.
AhangamaS.KrishnanS. (2023). Impact of AI readiness and E-participation implementation of a government on the well-being of its citizens. E-Service Journal, 15(1), 29–59. https://doi.org/10.2979/esj.00002
4.
AhluwaliaP.MerhiM. (2022). Can effective E-government implementation disrupt corruption? An exploratory study. In ChandaniA.DivekarR.NayakJ. K. (Eds.), Achieving $5 trillion economy of India (pp. 177–185). Springer Nature.
5.
Al AliF.StephensM.PereiraV. (2020). The effect of perceptions of government service and reputation on nation happiness. Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government.
6.
AlamT.AftabM.AbbasZ.UgliK. M. M.BokhariS. A. A. (2023). Impact of E-government initiatives to combat corruption mediating by behavioral intention: A quantitative analysis from emerging economies. Sustainability, 15(3), 2694. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032694
7.
AndroniceanuA.GeorgescuI. (2021). E-Government in European countries, a comparative approach using the principal components analysis. NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, 14(2), 65–86. https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2021-0015
8.
AndroniceanuA.GeorgescuI.SabieO. M. (2022). The impact of digitalization on public administration, economic development, and well-being in the EU countries. Central European Public Administration Review, 20(2), 9–31. https://doi.org/10.17573/cepar.2022.2.01
9.
AngierT. (2015). Happiness: Overcoming the skill model. International Philosophical Quarterly, 55(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.5840/ipq201511226
10.
AngnerE. (2013). Is it possible to measure happiness?: The argument from measurability. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 3(2), 221–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-013-0065-2
11.
AriansyahK.SetiawanA. B.NupiksoD.BudhiriantoS.HidayatD.HikmaturokhmanA. (2023). Digital inclusion for all? A gender-disaggregated analysis of e-government service use in Indonesia. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 17(4), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-04-2023-0043
12.
AritonangD. (2017). The impact of E-government system on public service quality in Indonesia. European Scientific Journal, 13, 99. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n35p99
13.
AssyahriW.FrinaldiA. (2021). Work Culture of Digital Governance Impacting on Citizen Happiness Obtained by Department of Population and Civil Registration of Pariaman City. Proceedings of the 1st Tidar International Conference on Advancing Local Wisdom Towards Global Megatrends, TIC 2020, 21-22 October 2020, Magelang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. Proceedings of the 1st Tidar International Conference on Advancing Local Wisdom Towards Global Megatrends, TIC 2020, 21-22 October 2020, Magelang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia, Magelang, Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.21-10-2020.2311930
14.
BarkerC.MartinB. (2011). Participation: The happiness connection. Journal of Public Deliberation, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.120.
15.
BarslundM. (2007). CHECKROB: Stata module to perform robustness check of alternative specifications. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from Statistical Software Components S456837, Boston College Department of Economics website: https://ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode/s456837.html
16.
BartikowskiB.LarocheM.JamalA.YangZ. (2018). The type-of-internet-access digital divide and the well-being of ethnic minority and majority consumers: A multi-country investigation. Journal of Business Research, 82, 373–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.05.033
17.
BisognoM.Cuadrado-BallesterosB.SantisS. (2022). Do e-government initiatives and e-participation affect the level of budget transparency?International Public Management Journal, 25(3), 365–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2022.2042437
CajanderÅ.ErikssonE. (2007). Automation and e-government services—A widened perspective1st International Workshop on Design and Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services, 3–6. Rio de Janeiro.
ChukwuemekaE. E.UbochiE. I.OkechukwuE. U. (2017). Effect of E-government on service delivery in federal university Ndufualike Ikwo, Ebodnyi State. Review of Public Administration and Management, 05(01), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4172/2315-7844.1000203
23.
Cifuentes-FauraJ. (2022). The impact of e-government on transparency in the European union: A multivariate analysis. Electronic Government, an International Journal, 18(1), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1504/EG.2022.119610
24.
DakinB. C.TanN. P.ConnerT. S.BastianB. (2022). The relationship between prosociality, meaning, and happiness in everyday life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(6), 2787–2804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00526-1
DeakZ. (2023). Internet use, social support, and sense of well-being from a generational perspective. In 2023 IEEE 21st jubilee international symposium on intelligent systems and informatics (SISY). (pp. 559–564). Pula, Croatia: IEEE, https://doi.org/10.1109/SISY60376.2023.10417897.
27.
DeHaanC. R.RyanR. M. (2014). Chapter 3 - symptoms of wellness: Happiness and eudaimonia from a self-determination perspective. In SheldonK. M.LucasR. E. (Eds.), Stability of happiness (pp. 37–55). Academic Press.
28.
DelsignoreG.Aguilar-LatorreA.Oliván-BlázquezB. (2021). Measuring happiness in the social sciences: An overview. Journal of Sociology, 57(4), 1044–1067. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783321991655
DienerE.KahnemanD.HelliwellJ. (2010). International Differences in Well-Being (1st ed.). Oxford University Press.
31.
DienerE.OishiS.LucasR. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
32.
DingY. Z. (2022). Public service and public happiness: Inferences from big weibo datasets for 31 Chinese provincial governments. Frontiers in Big Data, 5, 833703. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdata.2022.833703
33.
EbrahimA.BothaF.SnowballJ. (2013). Determinants of life satisfaction among race groups in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 30(2), 168–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.797227
FadrialR.SujiantoF. S.WirmanW.WibowoW. S. (2024). Fostering trust through bytes: Unravelling the impact of E-government on public trust in indonesian local government. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 19, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.28945/5317
37.
FanM.EpadileM.QalatiS. A.QureshiN. A. (2022). The effects of eGovernment efficiency on subjective wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 768540. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.768540
38.
Faura-MartínezU.Cifuentes-FauraJ. (2020). Does e-government promote transparency and the fight against corruption in the European union?International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 16(4), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEGR.2020100103
39.
FreyB. S. (2018). Economics of Happiness. Springer.
40.
FrinaldiA.PutriN. E.EmbiM. A. (2023). Public sector performance and digital-governance effectiveness predicted by community happiness as a representation of culture. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 10(2), 90–108. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1398
41.
GoloshchapovaT.YamashevV.SkornichenkoN.StrielkowskiW. (2023). E-Government as a key to the economic prosperity and sustainable development in the post-COVID era. Economies, 11(4), 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11040112
42.
GrahamC. (2012). The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being. Brookings Institution Press.
HoA. T.-K. (2002). Reinventing local governments and the E-government initiative. Public Administration Review, 62(4), 434–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-3352.00197
46.
HoganM. J.LeydenK. M.ConwayR.GoldbergA.WalshD.McKenna-PlumleyP. E. (2016). Happiness and health across the lifespan in five major cities: The impact of place and government performance. Social Science & Medicine, 162, 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.06.030
47.
HongY.ZhangP. (2020). Political news and happiness: The difference between traditional media and new media use. Chinese Journal of Communication, 13(4), 370–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2020.1731562
IbrahimyM. M.VirkusS.NortaA. (2023). The role of e-government in reducing corruption and enhancing transparency in the Afghan public sector: A case study. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 17(3), 459–472. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-10-2022-0135
50.
Ionescu-FeleagăL.IonescuBȘStoicaO. C. (2022). The impact of digitalization on happiness: A European perspective. Mathematics, 10(15), 2766. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10152766
51.
IsmailA.FathonihPrabowoH.HartatiS.RedjekiF. (2020). Transparency and corruption: Does E-government effective to combat corruption?International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(4), 5396–5404. https://doi.org/10.37200/IJPR/V24I4/PR201636
52.
JoshiP. R.IslamS. (2018). E-Government maturity model for sustainable E-government services from the perspective of developing countries. Sustainability, 10(6), 1882. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061882
53.
KahnemanD. (1999). Objective happiness. In Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 3–25). Russell Sage Foundation.
54.
KarpenkoO.ZaporozhetsT.TsedikM.VasiukN.OsmakA. (2023). Digital transformations of public administration in countries with transition economies. European Review, 31(6), 569–588. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798723000522
KhanA. (2024b). E-Government and well-being: A cross-country study. In SharmaS. K.DwivediY. K.MetriB.LalB.ElbannaA. (Eds.), Transfer, diffusion and adoption of next-generation digital technologies (pp. 321–329). Springer Nature Switzerland.
57.
KnightJ.GunatilakaR. (2024). The quality of society and happiness: Fairness, trust, and community in China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 25(7), 92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00724-z
LeeY.-Y.GohK.-L. (2023). The happiness-economic well-being nexus: New insights from global panel data. Sage Open, 13(4), 21582440231199659. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231199659
60.
LiY.ShangH. (2023). How does e-government use affect citizens’ trust in government? Empirical evidence from China. Information & Management, 60(7), 103844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2023.103844
61.
LinL. Y.SidaniJ. E.ShensaA.RadovicA.MillerE.ColditzJ. B.HoffmanB. L.GilesL. M.PrimackB. A. (2016). Association between social Media use and depression among U.S. Young adults. Depression and Anxiety, 33(4), 323–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22466
62.
LiuH.GaoH.HuangQ. (2020). Better government, happier residents? Quality of government and life satisfaction in China. Social Indicators Research, 147(3), 971–990. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02172-2
63.
LomasT.VanderWeeleT. J. (2023). Toward an Expanded Taxonomy of Happiness: A Conceptual Analysis of 16 Distinct Forms of Mental Wellbeing. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678231155512
64.
López-LópezV.Iglesias-AnteloS.Vázquez-SanmartínA.ConnollyR.BannisterF. (2018). e-Government, transparency & reputation: An empirical study of spanish local government. Information Systems Management, 35(4), 276–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/10580530.2018.1503792
65.
LupuD.LazărC. G. (2015). Influence of e-government on the level of corruption in some EU and non-EU states. Procedia Economics and Finance, 20, 365–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00085-4
66.
MaL.ZhengY. (2019). National e-government performance and citizen satisfaction: A multilevel analysis across European countries. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 85(3), 506–526. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852317703691
67.
MahmoodM.WeerakkodyV.ChenW. (2019). The influence of transformed government on citizen trust: Insights from Bahrain. Information Technology for Development, 25(2), 275–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2018.1451980
68.
MartitahM.ArifinS.SumartoS.WidiyantoW. (2021). Confronting E-government adoption in Indonesian local government. Journal of Indonesian Legal Studies, 6(2), 279–306. https://doi.org/10.15294/jils.v6i2.47795
69.
MinardiA. (2017). E-government service in Singapore and Indonesia third international conference on social and political sciences (ICSPS 2017). https://doi.org/10.2991/icsps-17.2018.60.
70.
MoonM. (2002). The evolution of E-government among municipalities: Rhetoric or reality. Public Administration Review, 62(4), 424–433.https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-3352.00196.
71.
MoynihanD. P.DeLeireT.EnamiK. (2015). A life worth living: Evidence on the relationship between prosocial values and happiness. The American Review of Public Administration, 45(3), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074013493657
72.
Murillo MuñozJ. A.RenteríaM. F. (2023). Subjective well-being and domain satisfactions in Colombian university students. Interdisciplinaria. Revista de Psicología y Ciencias Afines, 40(2), 245–263. https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.2.15
73.
NapitupuluD. (2016). E-Government maturity model based on systematic review and meta-ethnography approach. Jurnal Bina Praja, 8(2), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.21787/jbp.08.2016.263-275
74.
OishiS. (2010). Culture and well-being: Conceptual and methodological issues. In DienerE.KahnemanD.HelliwellJ. (Eds.), International differences in well-being (pp. 34–69). Oxford University Press.
75.
OishiS.DienerE. (2014). Can and should happiness be a policy goal?Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(1), 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732214548427
76.
OsborneD.GaeblerT. (1992). Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. Plume.
77.
PinaV.TorresL.RoyoS. (2009). E-government evolution in EU local governments: A comparative perspective. Online Information Review, 33(6), 445–454. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520911011052.
78.
PrzybylskiA. K.WeinsteinN. (2017). A large-scale test of the goldilocks hypothesis: Quantifying the relations between digital-screen use and the mental well-being of adolescents. Psychological Science, 28(2), 204–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616678438
79.
QanashS.Al-HusayniF.FalataH.HalawaniO.JahraE.MurshedB.AlhejailiF.GhabashiA.AlhashmiH. (2021). Effect of electronic device addiction on sleep quality and academic performance among health care students: Cross-sectional study. JMIR Medical Education, 7(4), e25662. https://doi.org/10.2196/25662
80.
RenteriaC.Varela-CastroS. (2023). A landscape of participatory platform architectures: Ideas, decisions, and mapping. Information Polity, 28(3), 341–358. https://doi.org/10.3233/IP-211520
81.
Rodríguez-HernándezG. (2019). The eudemonic and hedonic role of happiness in a population with high levels of life satisfaction. International Journal of Social Psychology, 34(2), 230–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2019.1576323
82.
RukumnuaykitP.PholphirulP. (2016). Happiness from social capital: An investigation from micro data in rural Thailand. Community Development, 47(4), 562–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2016.1206584
83.
RustiariniN. W. (2019). The role of e-government in reducing corruption: A systematic review. Jurnal Perspektif Pembiayaan Dan Pembangunan Daerah, 7(3), 269–286. https://doi.org/10.22437/ppd.v7i3.8311
84.
RyanR. M.CurrenR. R.DeciE. L. (2013). What humans need: Flourishing in aristotelian philosophy and self-determination theory. In The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonia (pp. 57–75). American Psychological Association.
85.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141
86.
SeiamD. A.SalmanD. (2024). Examining the global influence of e-governance on corruption: A panel data analysis. Future Business Journal, 10(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-024-00319-3
87.
ShamsiR. S. H. A.AmeenA. A.IsaacO.ShibamiA. H. A.-KhalifaG. S. (2018). The impact of innovation and smart government on happiness: Proposing conceptual framework. International Journal of Management and Human Science (IJMHS, 2(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.31674/ijmhs.
88.
ShinD. C.JohnsonD. M. (1978). Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 5(1–4), 475–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00352944
StiglitzJ.SenA.FitoussiJ. (2009). Report of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (CMEPSP).
92.
SukmanaM.MeinelC. (2016). E-government and security evaluation tools comparisonfor Indonesian e-government system. 4th International Conference on Information and Network Security, 96–103. https://doi.org/10.1145/3026724.3026741
93.
SundbergL.HolmströmJ. (2024). Citizen-centricity in digital government research: A literature review and integrative framework. Information Polity, 29(1), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.3233/IP-220047
94.
TähkämöL.PartonenT.PesonenA.-K. (2019). Systematic review of light exposure impact on human circadian rhythm. Chronobiology International, 36(2), 151–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2018.1527773
95.
TalukderM. S.IslamQ. T.KarimZ. (2024). Facilitators and inhibitors of attitude and word-of-mouth intention toward adoption of digital municipal service systems: A stimulus-organism-response approach. PLoS ONE, 19(12), e0315009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315009
96.
TandocE. C.TakahashiB. (2013). The Complex road to happiness: The influence of human development, a healthy environment and a free press. Social Indicators Research, 113(1), 537–550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0109-6
97.
TolbertC. J.MossbergerK. (2006). The effects of E-government on trust and confidence in government. Public Administration Review, 66(3), 354–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00594.x
98.
TwengeJ. M.JoinerT. E.RogersM. L.MartinG. N. (2018). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. Adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new Media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617723376
van DijkJ. A. G. M. (2005). The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media. Sage.
101.
van HoornA. (2018). Is the happiness approach to measuring preferences valid?Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 73, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2018.02.002
102.
VeenhovenR. (1984). Conditions of Happiness. Springer Netherlands.
VeenhovenR. (2015). The overall satisfaction with life: Subjective approaches. In GlatzerW.CamfieldL.MøllerV.RojasM. (Eds.), Global handbook of quality of life (pp. 207–238). Springer Netherlands.
105.
VeigaL.RohmanI. K. (2017). e-Government and the shadow economy: Evidence from across the globe. In JanssenM.AxelssonK.GlasseyO.KlievinkB.KrimmerR.LindgrenI.ParycekP.SchollH. J.TrutnevD. (Eds.), Electronic government (pp. 105–116). Springer International Publishing.
106.
VerkijikaS. F.De WetL. (2018). A usability assessment of e-government websites in sub-saharan Africa. International Journal of Information Management, 39, 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.11.003
107.
Wan Abdul GhaniW. S.RamleeN.RamliN.ZamriH.GhazaliA. R. (2019). The study of internet addiction with depression, anxiety and social isolation. Advances In Business Research International Journal, 5(2), 137. https://doi.org/10.24191/abrij.v5i2.10014
108.
WatermanA. S. (2013). Introduction: Considering the nature of a life well-lived—intersections of positive psychology and eudaimonist philosophy. In The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonia (pp. 3–17). American Psychological Association.
109.
WelbyB. (2019). The impact of digital government on citizen well-being (OECD Working Papers on Public Governance No. 32; OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, Vol. 32). OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/24bac82f-en
WilliamsC. C. (2023). Introduction to formalising the informal economy using an E-government approach. In WilliamsC. C. (Ed.), Formalization of the informal economy: An e-government approach (pp. 1–20). Springer Nature Switzerland.
112.
ZautashviliD. (2017). E-government maturity model by growth level of E-services delivery. Journal of Technical Science and Technologies, 6(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.31578/jtst.v6i2.131
113.
ZhengY.YangR. Y. (2019). Environmental regulation, public participation and happiness: Empirical research based on Chinese general social survey of 2015. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 17(4), 9317–9332. https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1704_93179332
