Unpacking the e-leadership to value chain: An empirical model of co-production and digital literacy

This study develops and empirically tests an integrated digital governance model that explains how e-leadership contributes to public value creation through two interrelated mechanisms: citizen co-production and digital literacy and skills. By adopting a mechanism-based perspective, the study demonstrates that leadership influence in digital governance emerges not as a stand-alone effect but through the alignment of participatory practices and digital capabilities. Using survey data from 275 professionals across Cambodia’s public and private sectors, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to examine the proposed relationships. The findings show that e-leadership positively influences public value creation, with its impact substantially strengthened when leaders foster meaningful collaboration and enhance digital competence among stakeholders. The results further indicate that strategic vision, technological proficiency, and adaptive collaboration are critical competencies for effective e-leadership in digital governance contexts. Overall, the study shows that public value is most effectively generated when leadership practices simultaneously enable participation and build digital capacity. The proposed framework contributes theoretically by clarifying the pathways through which e-leadership generates public value and offers practical guidance for policymakers seeking to strengthen governance capacity in developing and transitional digital contexts.