Abstract
The digital transformation of public administration is a major direction of public sector modernisation, as digital services can simplify administrative procedures, improve accessibility, and strengthen interaction between public authorities, citizens, and businesses. This study explores the relationship between the development of digital public services and administrative efficiency in Romania. The research combines a literature review and bibliometric analysis with an exploratory quantitative assessment. Relevant studies were identified in the Web of Science database using terms related to government effectiveness, digital public services for citizens and businesses, public services, and efficiency. A keyword co-occurrence analysis was performed using VOSviewer to identify the main thematic connections. The empirical analysis focuses on Romania and uses Government Effectiveness as the dependent variable, while Digital Public Services for Business, Digital Public Services for Citizens, and Pre-filled Forms are considered independent variables. The evolution of the indicators was examined over time, and their relationships were assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression. The results indicate that Pre-filled Forms has the strongest positive association with Government Effectiveness, suggesting that advanced digitalisation based on data reuse, interoperability, and process automation may be more closely related to administrative effectiveness than the mere availability of online services. Given the limited number of comparable annual observations, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory statistical associations rather than causal relationships.
Cuvinte cheie
Digital public services
Government effectiveness
Administrative efficiency
E-government
Pre-filled Forms
Romania
Istoric articol
Publicat
31.08.2026
Informații autori
Citare recomandată
Dragoș Gruia, Ștefan-Daniel Florea, Norina Popovici (2026). Digital Public Services as a Factor of Administrative Efficiency. Constantin Brâncuși University of Târgu Jiu Economics Series, 2(1), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.65631/jes.4.2026.38
Referințe bibliografice
Axelsson, K., Melin, U., & Lindgren, I. (2013). Public e-services for agency efficiency and citizen benefit—Findings from a stakeholder centered analysis. Government Information Quarterly, 30(1), 10–22. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2012.08.002. Chen, L., & Aklikokou, A. K. (2021). Relating e-government development to government effectiveness and control of corruption: A cluster analysis. Journal of Chinese Governance, 6(1), 155–173. doi:10.1080/23812346.2019.1698693. Dincă, G., Bărbuță, M., & Dincă, D. (2025). Crisis as a catalyst: Difference-in-differences evidence on digital public service transformation in the European Union. Administrative Sciences, 15(10), 393. doi:10.3390/admsci15100393. Doran, N. M., Puiu, S., Bădîrcea, R. M., Pirtea, M. G., Doran, M. D., Ciobanu, G., & Mihit, L. D. (2023). E-Government development—A key factor in government administration effectiveness in the European Union. Electronics, 12(3), 641. doi:10.3390/electronics12030641. European Commission. (2026). Digital Decade DESI visualisation tool. https://digitaldecade-desi.digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu Latupeirissa, J. J. P., Dewi, N. L. Y., Prayana, I. K. R., Srikandi, M. B., Ramadiansyah, S. A., & Pramana, I. B. G. A. Y. (2024). Transforming public service delivery: A comprehensive review of digitization initiatives. Sustainability, 16(7), 2818. doi:10.3390/su16072818. Lindgren, I., Madsen, C. Ø., Hofmann, S., & Melin, U. (2019). Close encounters of the digital kind: A research agenda for the digitalization of public services. Government Information Quarterly, 36(3), 427–436. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.03.002. Panayiotou, N. A., & Stavrou, V. P. (2021). Government to business e-services—A systematic literature review. Government Information Quarterly, 38(2), 101576. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2021.101576. Popescu, M. A. M., Barbu, A., Moiceanu, G., Costea-Marcu, I.-C., Militaru, G., & Simion, P. C. (2024). Citizens’ perception of digital public services: A case study among Romanian citizens. Administrative Sciences, 14(10), 259. doi:10.3390/admsci14100259. Rodríguez-Hevía, L. F., Navío-Marco, J., & Ruiz-Gómez, L. M. (2020). Citizens’ involvement in e-government in the European Union: The rising importance of the digital skills. Sustainability, 12(17), 6807. doi:10.3390/su12176807. Santa, R., MacDonald, J. B., & Ferrer, M. (2019). The role of trust in e-Government effectiveness, operational effectiveness and user satisfaction: Lessons from Saudi Arabia in e-G2B. Government Information Quarterly, 36(1), 39–50. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2018.10.007. Twizeyimana, J. D., & Andersson, A. (2019). The public value of E-Government—A literature review. Government Information Quarterly, 36(2), 167–178. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.01.001. Wallis, J., & Zhao, F. (2018). e-Government development and government effectiveness: A reciprocal relationship. International Journal of Public Administration, 41(7), 479–491. doi:10.1080/01900692.2016.1273950. Wimmer, M. A. (2021). Once-only principle good practices in Europe. In R. Krimmer, A. Prentza, & S. Mamrot (Eds.), The Once-Only Principle (pp. 61–82). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-79851-2_4. World Bank. Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), World Development Indicators DataBank. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/worldwide-governance-indicators