The digital divide and E-government in European economies

Even though the Internet usage is perceived to be widespread, senior citizens are relatively more reluctant to adopt new technologies. By relying on the Eurostat’s Community Statistics on Information Society (CSIS) microdata for the period 2008–2017, we explore recent evolution of the digital divide across Europe. We analyse the difference in adoption of e-governance by younger and older Internet users as well as their reasons for not using e-government services (specifically by submitting completed forms to public authorities). Additionally, we seek to identify factors that determine the difference in the reluctance to adopt e-governance services by senior citizens and the young. By adopting Heckman selection methodology, we establish three categories of factors: those that have different effects for young and old (gender, household size, and population density), those having similar effects (economic activity), and those that have adverse effects for the young and the old (education). Based on empirical results, we suggest following venues for EU-wide policy actions: special attention should be given to older population in sparsely populated areas, specialised learning activities should be developed for older citizens with additional effort to promote inclusion of older women to participate in these learning activities.