The Control Effect of e-Government on Corruption’s Behavior and Cause: Based on Mongolian Public Officials Awareness and Experience

(Purpose) Regardless of the various efforts of the world community, including ODA, many developing countries are still suffering from poverty. Scholars and ODA experts tried to find the cause of growth inhibition in corruption and have been interested in e-government ODA as part of their anti-corruption efforts. In order to solve the serious corruption problem, Mongolia has been active in introducing e-government through ODA. However, no objective verification has been made as to whether the e-government has a practical effect on preventing corruption in Mongolia. Therefore, this study verifies that e-government has anti-corruption effects in Mongolia. (Design/methodology/approach) In order to confirm the anti-corruption effect of e-government, data was collected by conducting a questionnaire survey on officials in the fields of customs, immigration, and procurement using actual e-government systems. In order to confirm the significant anti-corruption effect, it was divided into a behavioral and a factorial perspective. In other words, corruption was divided into three dimensions: illegal (fraudulent, transactional corruption), unfair (sponsorship corruption), and non-compliance (dereliction of duty), and the corruption factors were divided into two dimensions: administrative inefficiency and non-transparency. (Findings) Mongolian officials responded relatively positively that the introduction of e-government improved the administrative environment in Mongolia and prevented corruption. In particular, they showed positive recognition for illegal behaviors (fraudulent/transactional corruption) and non-feasance behavior. However, it was passive about the blocking effect against unfair behaviors such as politician intervention. Next, the control effect through the improvement of administrative inefficiency was generally positive, but it was found that the improvement of non-transparency was not noticeable. Meanwhile, it should be noted that when the recognition difference between officials who experienced corruption in the past or direct/indirect and those who did not. Mongolian officials with experience in corruption showed a positive perception of the control effect of the e-government. However, for unfair behaviors (sponsorship corruption), the more officials with experience in corruption responded negatively to the control effect. (Research implications or Originality) Corruption is not a simple problem that can be solved by technology alone, and e-government is not a tool consisting only of a combination of hardware and software. Since these two originate and interact in the socio-economic context, e-government ODA for corruption control should also be implemented based on a sufficient understanding and investigation of to developing countries. As such, this study differs from previous studies in that it opposes the utopian view of e-government and proposes careful implementation of the e-government ODA.