Enterprise Digital Divide: Website e-Commerce Functionalities among European Union Enterprises

Jaković Božidar (), Ćurlin Tamara () and Miloloža Ivan ()
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Jaković Božidar: The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb, Croatia
Ćurlin Tamara: The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb, Croatia
Miloloža Ivan: The University of Osijek, Faculty for Dental Medicine & Health, Osijek, Croatia

Business Systems Research, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 197-215

Abstract: Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gained prevalent organizational and structural value in the modern economy. E-commerce is one of the sectors directly influenced by technological change. However, not all countries have the same opportunities to develop e-commerce growth; there are significant discrepancies in ICT utilization worldwide, known as the digital divide. Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to explore the level of difference among European countries regarding the e-commerce functionalities in their enterprises using a cluster analysis. Methods/Approach: To accomplish the paper goal, the k-means cluster analysis was conducted on the Eurostat data from 2019. Enterprises from 28 European countries were taken into consideration. The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to explore if the differences among clusters regarding the digital development, measured by the Digital Economy and Society Index are significant. Results: The investigation confirmed that there are significant differences among European countries regarding the development of e-commerce. However, a similar level of e-commerce is not related to economic and digital development. Conclusions: Since the relationship between economic development and e-commerce development in European countries is not linear, country-level policies are likely to be significant factors driving e-commerce development, which leads to the need for further investigation of this issue.

Keywords: e-commerce; website functionalities; digital divide; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bit:bsrysr:v:12:y:2021:i:1:p:197-215:n:4

DOI: 10.2478/bsrj-2021-0013

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