Corruption as a source of e-Government projects failure in developing countries: A theoretical exposition

• Details the influence of corruption on e-Government failure in developing countries.
• Argues that corruption could restrict moral and governance capabilities of e-Governments initiatives.
• Argues that such restriction causes failure of e-Governments to meet stakeholders' expectations.
• Sets the stage for further scientific inquiries into this important topic.

While the literature has touted e-Government as a tool for combating corruption, no study has discussed so far how corruption could influence e-Government project failure. This article tries to fill part of this void in past research by proposing a contextual framework that highlights the role corruption plays in stimulating the failure of e-Government projects in developing countries. Informed by prior relevant literature on general systems, organizational information processing, corruption, as well as e-Government, the proposed framework argues that the prevalence of corruption in developing economies could restrict moral and governance capabilities of administrative systems overseeing e-Governments in a way that could lead to the failure of these entities to produce initiatives that meet stakeholders' expectations. This theoretical study discusses this idea and underscores the value of the suggested framework for guiding scientific inquiries into this important topic and helping the public officials interested in planning, managing, and auditing e-Government initiatives.