Are E-Participation Initiatives Related to Quality of Life of Nations Dependent on Cultural Dimensions? A Country-Level Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT:A study was conducted to learn how e-participation initiatives are related to the quality of life of citizens and whether this relationship depends on their cultural dimensions; namely, (a) power distance; (b) individualism; (c) masculinity; and (d) uncertainty avoidance. The literature on Theory of Modernization, Socio-technical Theory, e-participation, culture, and quality of life outcomes was considered as the guiding theoretical framework. Publicly available secondary data from 89 countries were collected to study the moderating effect of Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions. The quality of life of a country is measured through the human development index and the level of e-participation is measured using the e-participation index in the e-government survey report. The moderation effect was evaluated using multiple linear regression. According to the findings, the quality of life outcomes of a nation is directly affected by the e-participation initiatives of its citizens. Both individualism and uncertainty avoidance have moderated this relationship negatively. Theoretical and practical implications along with the future direction of the study are discussed in this paper.