Digital government as a business facilitator

Administrative and regulatory burden reduction is critical to improving government efficiency and economic competitiveness. Innovations in government through Information and Communication Technologies are key tools in designing policies to achieve these goals. Using a panel dataset covering 169 countries from 2004 to 2018, we investigate the possible contribution of digital government as a business facilitator. The empirical results suggest that progress in digital government contributes to reducing administrative and regulatory burdens, creating a more business-friendly environment in several areas of business regulations. Governance effectiveness may also play a significant role in facilitating business. The results are robust to a battery of robustness tests and alternative empirical strategies.