Government Web Technologies and Environmental Regulatory Governance

Although a growing body of literature has been emphasizing the benefits of government web technologies in regulatory governance, empirical evidence on the subject has been limited. To explicate the technologies’ regulatory potential, this study explores how e-government initiatives affect information-based environmental regulation in urban areas. Drawing insights from the relevant literature, this study identifies the technological and sociopolitical factors that may explain web-aided environmental regulation. The empirical data were drawn from a web site content analysis and a nationwide survey of city officials in South Korea. The results of the path analysis suggest that e-government web quality, polluter information disclosure online, and senior management’s innovative leadership significantly improve the internet-aided regulatory monitoring and effectiveness perceived by city officials. In addition, local environmental activism appears to be a key community context that shapes e-government’s positive impact on environmental regulation.