Public Sector Innovation, E-Government, and Anticorruption in China and India: Insights from Civil Servants

Abstract

Both China and India are adopting information and communication technologies to facilitate openness and transparency in their governments, and hence reduce corruption. Distinctive from their traditional anticorruption approaches, is the innovative e-government approach an effective solution to corruption in these two large developing countries? This paper addresses the question through comparative in-depth interviews with 44 mid-or senior-level officials in the public sector in these two countries. The first study of its kind, our research shows that civil servants in both countries overall think positively about transparency and technology in reducing corruption. However, to what extent these innovative measures will be effective is conditional on various factors, such as political willingness, income inequality, and infrastructure readiness. What is worth noting is that the Chinese respondents were more positive regarding the role of transparency, whereas the Indian respondents were more positive about the role of technology, which may reflect the different facilitators of corruption and the constraints of anticorruption in China and India.

Public Sector Strategies in Curbing Corruption: A Review of the Literature

“…Understandably, the adoption of an innovative e-government approach should not be seen as a panacea for corruption problems in public organizations. A recent work by Wu et al (2020) examines the potential and limitations of using e-government as an innovative anticorruption measure from the perspective of public officials in China and India, verifying that the effectiveness of this measure varies based on the political, economic, and cultural conditions of a country.…”

The Influence of E-Government Services on Corruption in Indonesia and Malaysia

“…Furthermore, [2] claims that e-government is a tool to reduce corruption. This is because the increases in transparency would reduce corruption, reduce under table transactions, and streamline procedures [3]. It has been almost twenty years since the launch of e-government flagship by Malaysian government, so rationally the e-government performance should have achieved certain standard.…”

Multicase Study of Evaluation of Results of Technological Innovations in the Public Sector: Mechanisms Used, Challenges and Gains

“…Além disso, a automação permitiu eliminar atividades no fluxo dos processos. Wu et al (2020) constaram que as inovações com o uso de tecnologias de informação podem proporcionar abertura e transparência de informações do governo, contribuindo assim como medida de anticorrupção.…”