• Login
• Admin

Chen, Yushi (2025) The utility of e-government public services for China’s information-disadvantaged groups. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

PDF (Thesis - as examined) - Repository staff only until 31 December 2026. Subsequently available to Anyone - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Available under Licence Creative Commons Attribution. Download (5MB)

Abstract

Every citizen is an important stakeholder in the e-government system, and their willingness to adopt e-government, as well as their information literacy and skills, is crucial. In China, the rapid development of e-government has become a symbol of social progress. However, this positive initiative by the Chinese government has also exacerbated the plight of the information-disadvantaged groups in the current digital environment. These people live in rural areas, are older, less educated, have lower incomes, and are unable to own or use electronic devices to access e-government public services, thus affecting their survival and development. This study aims to analyse the particularities of e-government public service adoption among the information-disadvantaged groups in China. It further analyses how the digital divide, one of the significant barriers to implementing e-government systems, has affected the adoption of e-government public services by the information-disadvantaged groups. Ultimately, the study proposes potentially viable new models of e-government public services through existing practicable emerging technologies through a complete literature review and compendium.

Two quantitative studies were implemented in Chapters 2 and 3 of the study, respectively. A modified unified model of e-government adoption and a social cognitive theory research model with the introduction of digital divide-related constructs were proposed in the study based on the literature review accordingly. Then, Chapter 2 collected 545 valid questionnaires to test 17 hypotheses, and Chapter 3 retrieved 532 valid data to test 11 hypotheses. The research in these two chapters validates the proposed model using partial least squares structural equation modelling and further employs multigroup analysis (MGA), focusing on the particularities of China's information-disadvantaged groups. In Chapter 4 of the study, a novel e-government public service model based on Internet of Things (IoT) is proposed through a complete literature review and systematic organisation based on existing feasible emerging information technology and information and communications technology to enhance further the efficiency of the existing e-government system, which would further bridge the digital divide and lower the threshold of using the e-government system.

The results in Chapter 2 show that effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, trust on government (TOG) and attitude toward use (ATU) directly influence the adoption of e-government public services, with ATU being the most critical factor. TOG performs the best among all the factors affecting the adoption of e-government public services. The MGA results show significant differences in the adoption of e-government public services among the information-disadvantaged groups in China, which may be due to differences in information literacy and experience. The results in Chapter 3 show that outcome expectation (OE), affect, self-efficacy (SE), anxiety, access divide (AD), and skills divide all influence the adoption of e-government public services, with SE being the most critical positive factor of AD being the most influential negative factor. OE performs the best among all the factors affecting the adoption of e-government public services. The MGA results show significant differences in the adoption of e-government public services among the information-disadvantaged groups in China due to the digital divide. Chapter 4 then systematically outlines and analyses IoT technology's technical features and advantages in e-government public services. It explores how IoT technology can be used to improve public services and customer services and overcome current technological challenges facing the development of e-government public services. IoT as a potential technological solution guides policymakers, implementers, and IoT technology engineers in understanding the application of IoT technology in e-government public services.

This study has theoretical, practical, and policy contributions. The study provides a more comprehensive research idea and approach. The study contributes to the development of literature related to e-government and information systems and the implementation of e-government public services by the Chinese government and other Asian and developing countries. Ultimately, the findings could provide implications for further improving the utility of e-government public services in China.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Sarma, Vengadeshvaran Tan, Chee Meng
Keywords:	e-government; unified model of e-government adoption (UMEGA); social cognitive theory (SCT); digital divide; adoption; public services; Internet of Things (IoT); improvement; information-disadvantaged groups; China
Subjects:	H Social sciences > HM Sociology
Faculties/Schools:	University of Nottingham, Malaysia > Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences > Nottingham University Business School
Item ID:	81287
Depositing User:	Chen, Yushi
Date Deposited:	26 Jul 2025 04:40
Last Modified:	26 Jul 2025 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/81287

Actions (Archive Staff Only)

Edit View