This paper explores the relationship between electronic government and corruption. Our main hypothesis is that digital government can increase the availability of information on public sector, making it more difficult to engage in corrupt activities without being caught. Our estimations are performed under several alternative methodologies: ordinary least squares, first differences, fixed effects and random effects. Based on a dataset that covers more than 150 counties, we find that a higher E-Government Development Index is associated with better corruption outcomes. Our results are robust to all the methodologies that we have implemented. The quality of telecommunication infrastructures and human capital can amplify the impact of digital government in corruption. We investigate how this relationship varies across income levels. Upper middle income countries are the ones that can extract more benefits from developing digital government. Low income countries should invest in infrastructures and education in order to benefit from electronic government.

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Based on a sample of 21,546 individuals and 5,224 households, we use multilevel probit models to analyze the divides in the use of the Internet and online governmental services in Oman. We also study the main self-reported reasons for not using the Internet. The results reveal that characteristics such as education, employment status, nationality, role in the household, or age influence the likelihood of using both the Internet and online governmental services. Gender is only a relevant explanatory variable in the Internet use case. Although a gender divide exists in the online governmental services use, it is explained by differences in other individual characteristics. No need, lack of basic Information and Communication Technology skills and illiteracy are the most common explanations for not using the Internet.