The Impact of E-Government on the Efficiency of Public Expenditure on Education in WAEMU

In the face of increasing fiscal policy pressure in developing countries, one possible solution is to increase the efficiency of public spending. The digitalization of public administrations plays a crucial role in improving the efficiency of the public sector. The objective of this article is to analyze the impact of e-government on the efficiency of public spending on education. The study covers a sample of six countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 2003-2021. We use a two-step approach. The first method uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the efficiency scores of public expenditures on education, the second uses an ARDL model to analyze the short- and long-term relationships between e-government and these efficiency scores. Overall, the results indicate that public spending on education is inefficient in the WAEMU. In the long term, e-government and e-participation have a positive impact on the efficiency of public expenditure on education in WAEMU. On the other hand, corruption, student-teacher ratios, and political instability undermine the effectiveness of public spending on education in the long run.