Unveiling the Link Between E-Participation and Corruption Control: Insights From a Co-Creation Framework

Controlling corruption necessitates collaboration between service providers and recipients, as emphasized by the co-creation theory. In this context, e-participation has emerged as a promising avenue for fostering collaboration through online platforms in the ongoing battle against corruption. This research relies on national-level data obtained from the World Bank, Transparency International, and the United Nations to investigate the relationship between e-participation and the control of corruption. Through a comprehensive data analysis involving 136 countries over a five biennial period from 2012 to 2020, the results reveal no statistically significant correlation between e-participation and corruption control. This finding raises pertinent questions about the effectiveness of current e-participation approaches, or the measurements employed to evaluate their impact on combating corruption. The implications of this finding are significant for policymakers and governance monitoring bodies, underscoring the need for a re-evaluation and enhancement of existing e-participation mechanisms and anti-corruption strategies within the co-creation framework.