Exploring the Multiple Paths of Digital Government Development: A Dynamic QCA Analysis Based on Organizational Transformation

Digital government has become a key strategic choice for achieving sustainable development globally. How governments can effectively promote digital government transformation and development is a major issue that needs to be addressed. Of these, the stunted development of digital government in developing countries is the more notable issue. To this end, a "Pressure-Action-Resources" analytical framework was constructed based on the "Pressure-Response" model. Using 31 provinces (cities and districts) in China between 2015 and 2021 as a research sample, the dynamic QCA method was used to analyze the multifaceted paths that drive the development of digital government. The results of the study show that (1) the influence of a single condition on the development of digital government has an obvious asymmetric causality and dynamic effect. Technology management capabilities and data open capabilities are gradually be-coming necessary for the further development of digital government. The development of digital government has the characteristic of "multiple concurrency" and multiple equivalent paths. Among them, there are three types of driving paths for the high-level development of digital government, namely, the Timely Transformation model, the "Pressure-Resource" model, and the Pro-active Transformation model. (3) Each driver pathway is clearly influenced by the digital government strategy and major public health emergencies at certain points in time. (4) Substitution effects between some of the conditions. Under certain conditions, digital transformation attention and technology management capabilities can be substituted for each other. In addition, under certain conditions, the pressure of intergovernmental competition can be substituted for each other with a combination of conditions of citizen demand pressure and digital transformation attention. The above findings enrich the perceptions of existing research and provide useful insights into how developing countries can better implement digital government policies.