Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

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Information & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/im

G2G information sharing among government agencies

Jing Fan a,b,1, Pengzhu Zhang a,2, David C. Yen c,*
a

Management School, Shanghai Jiaotong University, China

International Business School, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
c
School of Economics and Business, SUNY College at Oneonta, USA
b

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 27 March 2011
Received in revised form 3 November 2013
Accepted 4 November 2013
Available online 14 November 2013

Despite its importance in government operations, G2G information sharing remains a challenge for IT
professionals worldwide. While recent literature has examined this challenge in Western countries, little
has been published on Eastern countries. We developed a four-layer model of G2G information sharing
across horizontal functional agencies and used it to conduct an analysis of sites within Chinese contexts.
Included in the model were the external environment, interagency partnership, organizational
readiness, and user expectation. Through empirical testing, we found that the authority of the upperlevel leadership, GuanXi, compatibility, top-management support, cost, process security, and expected
risks and benets had a signicant inuence on the degree of G2G information sharing. However, laws
and policies, interagency trust and IT capability had no signicant inuence on the degree of G2G
information sharing. Also, the expected benets and the degree had positive effect on the performance of
G2G information sharing while expected risks had no signicant effect on the performance of G2G
information sharing.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
E-government
Government to government (G2G)
Information sharing
Realization degree
Performance of G2G information sharing

1. Introduction
Information sharing between government agencies has increased substantially due to a need to monitor and react to terrorist
and other illegal activities. It covers not only law enforcement,
health care, societal, public education, economic development, and
geographic information [15]. G2G information sharing is the
collaboration of two or more governments or governmental
agencies sharing information and cooperating with one another
through the Internet, Extranet, disks, EDI, phone, and/or other
electronic tools; it can lead to effective service and the realization
of the monitoring goals [1].
In China, different government agencies have primarily used a
hierarchical administration model. They have implemented silos in
which different functional agencies have managed their own
information resources. Today, with the development of e-government in China, most government agencies have set up their own IS,
but information sharing has been limited to the same vertical
functioning for several reasons. This has resulted in information
isolation.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 607 436 3458; fax: +1 607 436 254.
E-mail addresses: fanjing@bfsu.edu.cn (J. Fan), pzzhang@sjtu.edu.cn (P. Zhang),
David.Yen@oneonta.edu, yendc@muohio.edu (D.C. Yen).
1
Tel.: +86 10 88818121; fax: +86 10 88810062.
2
Tel.: +86 21 52301231; fax: +86 21 62932982.
0378-7206/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2013.11.001

In China, companies have had to deal with several agencies

separately to perform similar procedures and this has resulted in
inconsistent information among agencies about the same company; e.g., fake information to the Administration of Taxation for tax
evasion, to the Administration of Tax Reimbursement and to the
Customs for additional export rebates. Horizontal functioning
agencies that operate separately without back-ofce information
sharing and interoperability not only provide discrete service for
companies and citizens, but also tend to allow criminal activities
with less likelihood of the company being caught [8].
Therefore, an understanding of G2G information sharing
among government agencies is likely to be important in China.
The aim of our study was therefore to understand the challenges of
G2G information sharing within China. Our study may help the
Chinese government promote its development of G2G through egovernment and also provide useful information to other
countries whose governments are at a similar stage of egovernment development.
2. Literature review
Information sharing among government agencies has the
potential to increase the productivity and performance of
government operations, improve policy-making, and provide
better services to citizens and businesses [10]. However, bringing
together an array of agencies with differing and sometimes
competing internal cultures is not an easy task [18].

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

To facilitate G2G information sharing, an understanding of the

factors inuencing information sharing is critical in establishing
and maintaining collaborative relationships. We decided that we
needed a standardized framework with tools to help manage the
shared databases.
Decision-making for G2G information sharing is typically
needed at the topmost-level of administrative management and
high-level leadership is likely to inuence the speed and
performance of G2G information sharing adoption [24]. Thus
there should be project-wide championship by all agencies
committed to implementing and overseeing information sharing
at a high level. Such super-managerial agencies for G2G information sharing are essential in coordinating system implementation,
especially in the early phases.
G2G information sharing requires interoperability among
government agencies. Unlike B2B systems, which generally focus
on improving economic outcome, inter-agency partnerships
generally focus on achieving public good or improved public
service [25]. Using diffusion theory, many authors have studied
G2G information sharing by focusing on technological and
organizational characteristics, generally concentrating on cost, IT
resources, organizational leaders attitude, business process, etc.
However, different countries have different types of government agencies. The politics, culture, organizational structure, and
degree of automation are different in China from Western
countries. Most western researchers have studied the challenges
of information sharing between federal and state governments, or
between state and local governments [26].
However, there is a network-oriented structure in China
composed of TIAO and KUAI (see Fig. 1). From the previous
study of Fan and Zhang, the term TIAO refers to functional
administrative systems that pass information; e.g., from local
government up to the central government. The overall taxation
system bureau includes the district-level, city-level, province-level,
and central-level taxation bureau. TIAO, are also termed vertical or
functional agencies. KUAI, however, refers to agencies of different
functions at the same level of administrative government, such as
the Taxation Bureau, the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the
Customs Bureau, and the Peoples Bank of China in the same city.
KUAI are also termed horizontal agencies or local governments.
In a network-oriented government structure, such as that in
China, a TIAO-oriented mode is dominant. For example, a taxation
bureau at a city level is usually more obedient to the Taxation
Bureau at the provincial level than to the municipal government
level in which it operates. Separation of TIAO and KUAI is a serious
problem in China; it is responsible for the absence of common
upper-level managerial agencies. Thus, it is relatively easy
to accomplish G2G information sharing within the vertical
administrative agencies, but difculties occur when G2G information is shared between horizontal government agencies in China.

121

Therefore to increase our understanding of G2G information

sharing among government agencies, we rst developed a four-layer
behavioral model of G2G information sharing among government
agencies. Then, we made an empirical investigation of its use
in exploring the factors inuencing G2G information sharing.
3. The theoretical model and hypotheses
G2G information sharing is a complex process with many
stakeholders. To be effective, it is important to consider how to
streamline the relationships among stakeholders in order to
understand the whole process. Here, multiple stakeholders are
involved and every stakeholder has special challenges.
A layered behavioral model (LBM) was selected as our analytical
framework. The creation of large software development systems is
a process that should be analyzed at several levels: from the
individual, team, project, to the external. The model focuses on the
behavior of those individuals creating the activities. Their
cumulative effect can thus be represented in the model. It was
used to extend the scope of our study from an organizational to an
interagency process, because: (1) G2G information sharing
includes activities that occur at many layers of user (governmental
employees, individual agency, upper-level managerial agencies
and the central government); (2) they require cooperation and
participation among different users; (3) they involve complicated,
multi-level, creative activities. We therefore studied the overall
G2G information sharing from a four-layer viewpoint.
 The external environment
Although various policies have been set up for G2G information
sharing, it must meet requirements of the external environment. The
process is still in its early stages and the policies are not well
documented. There is still a lack of a unied national architecture
and no formal laws dening the information, and because the TIAO
and KUAI government administrative systems play an important
role in any inter-agency project, the authority of super-management
agencies become a crucial factor for G2G information sharing.
 Interagency partnerships
Partnership within G2G information sharing projects requires
interoperability among government agencies involving complex
interactions. This layer involves both organizational factors and
technological factors among government agencies.
 Organizational readiness
In order to participate in information sharing activities,
agencies need to be ready. One of the most important factors is

TIAO

TIAO

Functional Agency A

Functional Agency B

KUAI

Province-level/State
Government

Functional Agency A

Functional Agency B

KUAI

City-level Government

Functional Agency A

Functional Agency B

KUAI

District-level Government

Functional Agency A

Functional Agency B

Central/Federal
Government

Fig. 1. Government structure for TIAO and KUAI in China.

KUAI

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

122

External Environment
Inter-agency Partnership
Organizational
Readiness
Individual
Expectation
Fig. 2. A layered behavior model.

leadership support, while one of the obstacles is cost. Although

technological problems are also an obstacle, they can be resolved.
So, the realization of technological integration depends on the
nancial support of G2G information sharing. Furthermore,
information security is needed for information transfer among
different government agencies.
 Individual expectation
Most government leaders and staff have realized the benets of
G2G information sharing. However, the perceived risks inuence
information sharing. The protection of political benets is the
hardest obstacle in G2G information sharing.
Thus our layered behavioral model of G2G information sharing
is shown in Fig. 2.
3.1. External environment layer
This contains material that the central and local governments
have agreed is needed to support the development of G2G
information sharing. The material includes laws, legal policies, and
rules to guide information sharing (interagency agreements,
information sharing procedures, and general legislative authority).
An institution is the topmost management agency authorized to
guide the G2G information sharing initiative at a nation-wide level
or project-wide level. Therefore our external environment layer
contains two parts, including: (1) laws and policies and (2) upperlevel leadership.
3.1.1. Laws and policies
These dene the rights of government agencies to collect and
disseminate information, answering questions such as: Which
agencies have the right to collect and own information?, Which
of it can be shared?, Which agencies are permitted to access it?
and How will it be shared by government agencies? They also
help in trust building, risk reduction and even compulsory
enforcement in G2G information sharing projects [3]. Although
the information can be shared to some extent when the law is
untried, agencies might easily abort the sharing with certain
excuses [4]. Therefore laws and policies should have a signicant
effect on realizing the degree of G2G information sharing; i.e., the
extent to which government agencies share information through
various electronic media tools. Hence,
H1. Laws and policies will positively promote the degree of G2G
information sharing.
3.1.2. Upper-level leadership
This involves the existence of an institutional authority that is
committed to implementing and overseeing the G2G information
sharing projects [23]. Researchers have shown that information
sharing can implement effectively when government agencies

share a common upper-level leadership [17]. First, an upper-level

managerial agency has the right to set rules and standards for
sharing information such as statewide inventories, data denitions, data standards, and information clearing houses. Second,
upper-level leadership can help build agreement, promote trust
among participating agencies and clarify roles and responsibilities during the project processes. Third, upper-level leadership
might provide nancial resources for project development.
Hence,
H2. The upper-level leadership has a positive inuence on the
degree of G2G information sharing.

3.2. Interagency partnership layer

Partnership assumes that participants try to build a relationship
to achieve common goals [6]. This layer therefore must measure
the factors that government agencies have to provide to allow
effective information transfer with other layers or the coordination
activities among them. In our paper, these factors include
interagency trust, Guanxi, and compatibility.
3.2.1. Interagency trust
Inter-organizational trust is one of the fundamental conditions
for establishing a partnership. For G2G information sharing this
requires: the agencys trust in the quality of the data collected by
other agencies [14] and expectation that participants recognize
and protect the rights and interests of all others engaged in the
sharing. Thus it provides an agency with an optimistic anticipation
of the behavior of other agencies and increases its willingness to
participate in the sharing [5]. Hence,
H3. Interagency trust has a positive inuence on the degree of G2G
information sharing.

3.2.2. Guanxi
This is a Chinese word used to explain strong ties resulting from
social networks in China. Its meaning includes concepts of
commitment, loyalty, and long-term mutual benets [22]. Thus,
Guanxi is a mutual obligation to respond to requests for assistance
from others. Interagency Guanxi is often formed through frequent
business transactions which indicate the need for information
sharing. Interagency Guanxi is thus an important factor affecting
organizational members attitudes towards cooperating with
partners and it plays a crucial role in ensuring successful
information sharing. Hence,
H4. Guanxi has a positive inuence on the degree of G2G information sharing.

3.2.3. Interagency compatibility

Compatibility of G2G information sharing requires both
technological and organizational informational systems. First,
different agencies may use different hardware, software and data
standards. Technical compatibility requires the integration of
different information systems for participating in G2G information
sharing project [16]. Second, government agencies participating in
a G2G project have different values, cultures, and even competing
interests [19]. Organizational compatibility requires little need to
introduce change due to G2G information sharing t within the
current administrative practices, functions, cultures, and objectives. It is not easy to integrate several different information
systems, organizational goals and cultures into one information
sharing project [13]. Hence,

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

H5. Compatibility has a positive inuence on the degree of G2G

information sharing.
3.3. Organizational readiness layer
This measures the capability of a government agency to
participate in a G2G information sharing project. It refers to the
degree to which an agency is aware of, has the, resources,
commitment, and governance to allow the new system to function.
Many researchers have focused on technological and organizational characteristics, which include top management support, IT
capability, economic cost, and process security.
3.3.1. Top management support within an agency
This is one of the most frequently discussed factors in the
literature on successful system implementation; innovation will
continuously occur when top management within one agency
appreciates the value of innovation and actively creates a favorable
atmosphere the IT system [7]. Hence,
H6. Top management support has a positive inuence on the
degree of G2G information sharing.
3.3.2. IT capability
This refers to the level of IT resources, IT expertise, and other IT
skills within a government agency that eases participation in G2G
information sharing projects [11]. Agencies with different level IT
capabilities will have different attitudes towards information
sharing initiatives. Meanwhile, the IT skill of an agencys employees is a factor that may constrain the implementation of new
technologies. Employees who have mastered the new technology
can facilitate the project development greatly [2]. Hence,
H7. IT capability has a positive inuence on the degree of G2/G
information sharing.

3.3.3. Cost
The cost of G2G information sharing is primarily related to
development, set-up, operating, maintenance, and communication
and training costs. It is difcult for agencies to spare their limited
resources to make information available for the benet of other
agencies, especially when the costs are uncertain and the benets
are not clearly dened. Hence,
H8. Economic costs have a negative impact on the degree of G2G
information sharing.
3.3.4. Process security
Government agencies are responsible for a tremendous volume
of public and national information, much of which may contain
enterprise or personal privacy information. Information security
cannot be controlled by one agency once this information is shared
with others [20]. Countermeasures involve policy statements,
awareness by users, computer monitoring, access authorization,
authentication, etc. Hence,
H9. Process security has a positive inuence on the degree of G2G
information sharing.

123

3.4.1. Expected benets

G2G information sharing has the potential to improve
information quality, streamline the business process, increase
administrative efciency, enhance the ability of decision and
policy-making, and reduce cost. Lack of awareness of the benets
of G2G information sharing has been shown to be a major reason in
obtaining agency participation [21]. Organizational members, who
were not fully aware of the potential benets of G2G information
sharing, were found to be unwilling to participate in it. Hence,
H10a. Expected benets have a positive inuence on the degree of
G2G information sharing.
H10b. Expected benets have a positive inuence on the performance of G2G information sharing.
3.4.2. Expected risks
These refer to organizational members concerns about the
possible challenges or losses due to G2G information sharing.
There are three kinds of expected risks, rst the risk of
misinterpretation or misuse of the information; second that
information sharing may result in the exposure of sensitive
information; third the political risks of losing authority. Due to a
perceived fear of losing political power to others, government
agencies may be unwilling to share their information. Hence,
H11a. Expected risks have a negative inuence on the degree of
G2G information sharing.
H11b. Expected risks have a negative inuence on the performance of G2G information sharing.

3.5. Realization and performance of G2G information sharing

Performance of G2G information sharing refers to the degree
of administrative, nancial, and other advantages that government agencies achieved through sharing projects. Administrative performance not only involves increased information
quality and streamlined data management but also better
services, more efcient monitoring, and improved policymaking. Financial performance of G2G information sharing
includes reduction in bureaucratic processes with other
agencies, transaction cost, in coordinating with customers and
reduction in human resources.
Three aspects are recognized as important aspects of the degree
of G2G information sharing: (1) volume of information obtained
from other agencies, (2) that provided to other agencies, and (3) the
degree of electronic information sharing. By increasing the amount
of information sharing government agencies will improve the
interaction and integration of administrative processes; allowing
the real benets of G2G information sharing to increase. Hence,
H12. A greater degree of information sharing will lead to increased
performance.
Thus we constructed a model of G2G information sharing for
our research, as shown in Fig. 3.

4. Research methodology
3.4. Individual expectation layer
4.1. Questionnaire design
Organizational members expectations prior to the initiation of
G2G information sharing activities will inuence the attitude and
initiative of employees towards the sharing process.

The questionnaire was developed based on the previous

research by either adapting questions based on prior validated

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

124

Table 1
Sample demographics.

External Environment Layer

Laws and Policies(H1)
Upper-level Leadership(H2)

Realization Degree of G2G

Information Sharing

Organizational Readiness Layer

Top-management Support(H6)
IT Capability(H7)
Economic Cost(H8)
Process Security(H9)

Areas

East China
Northwest China
North China

35
97
41

36.1%
44.9%
19.0%

Administrative
levels

District level
City level
Province level

73
52
91

33.8%
24.1%
42.1%

Functional
agencies

Administration of industry
and commerce
Administration of national
taxation
Administration of local
taxation
Administration of customs
Administration of audit
Administration of quality
supervision, inspection
and quarantine
Peoples bank of China
China banking regulatory
commission
Administration of nance
Administration of foreign
economic relation & trade

40

18.5%

28

13.0%

53

24.5%

28
15
5

13.0%
6.9%
2.3%

26
6

12.0%
2.8%

9
4

4.2%
1.9%

(H12)

Individual Expectation
Expected Benefits(H10a,b)
Expected Risks(H11a,b)

Performance of G2G
Information Sharing

Fig. 3. Model of inuencing factors on G2G information sharing.

measures or adjusting the variables denitions into a question

format. The items concerning degree of G2G information sharing
were based on the measures of Akbulut et al. The items about
performance of G2G information sharing were adapted from the
research of Iyer et al. [12]. The items of laws and policies were
based on the work of Liu [15]. The items of upper-level leadership
were derived by synthesizing the research of Liu, Yang and
Maxwell. The items regarding interagency trust were adapted from
the research of Chang and Wong. Specially, the items about Guanxi
were designed by transforming interpersonal Guanxi to interagency Guanxi according to the research of Shin, Ishman and
Sanders. Items about interagency compatibility, top management
support and IT capability, cost were developed by synthesizing the
research of Akbulut et al., Gil-Garcia and Pardo [9], Hameed,
Counsell and Swift. Process security was derived from the research
of Chang and Wong, and Yang and Maxwell. The items regarding
expected benets and risks were integrated using the research of
Zhang and Dawes.
Appendix A shows all survey items used to measure each
construct. For the measures, a 5-point Likert Scale was used in the
questionnaire (with values ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to
5 = strongly agree).
4.2. Data collection and samples
The studys target samples were concentrated on those agencies
which are responsible for the regulation and provision of services
to an enterprises economic and nancial activities. There are
several reasons for this focus: enterprises have the closest
relationships with government agencies within their life cycles
(from registration to cancellation); government agencies rely on a
high volume of integrated information provided by enterprises to
set up policies and make decisions, and those government agencies
in China responsible for business activities have made urgent
demands for information sharing and business interoperability. As
such, information sharing among agencies is one of the most
important areas of e-government development for China. As a
result, several famous projects of G2G information sharing have
begun to emerge in China.
The initial questionnaire was reviewed by two professors
specializing in MIS and e-government, and then again reviewed by
four ofcials of government agencies participating in G2G information sharing. Problems concerning grammar, phrase, and sentence
structure were revised and several items that were irrelevant to the

Percent

Category

Inter-agency Partnership Layer

Inter-agency Trust(H3)
Guanxi(H4)
Compatability(H5)

Frequency

Demographic
information

Agency sizes

<50 employees
50100 employees
100200 employees
>200 employees

14
40
51
111

6.5%
18.5%
23.6%
51.4%

Positions

Administrative employees
Technical employees
Government ofcials

85
87
44
216

39.3%
40.3%
20.4%
100%

domains of the designated constructs were removed. There were no

major problems with the content of the questionnaire, indicating that
the constructs possess adequate conceptual validity. Next, a pilot
study was executed by administering the questionnaires to 149
government employees in several government agencies.
Revisions were made, based on the pretest and pilot study.
Thereafter, packages containing a cover letter stating the studys
objective and a copy of the nalized questionnaire were distributed
to a large group of interviewees from 42 government agencies based
in northwest, northern, and eastern China. All these agencies have
participated in or were preparing to participate in G2G information
sharing activities, including in the projects of Enterprises Basic
Information Interchange Platform, Company Reputation Platform, EPort, and Company Credit Information System. Several types of
members in each agency participated in the survey, including
government leaders, administrative and technical employees. Basic
demographics of these respondents are shown in Table 1.
To improve the validity of the questionnaires, more than 80% of
them were administered in a face-to-face meeting in order to avoid
any misunderstanding. Other questionnaires were sent to informants by mail. Of the 300 questionnaires distributed, 256 were
returned, and 40 questionnaires were removed due to their having
incomplete and invalid data. The remaining 216 questionnaires
were used for data analysis.
5. Data analysis and results
5.1. Measurement model
We conducted a principle components analysis on the variables
and found thirteen important ones: laws and policies, upper-level
relationship, interagency trust, Guanxi, compatibility, top management support, IT capability, Economic cost, process security,

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

125

Table 2
Descriptive statistics and constructs correlations.
Variables

Mean

s.d.

10

11

12

13

Law and policies

Upper-level leadership
Interagency trust
Guanxi
Compatibility
Economic cost
IT capability
Top management support
Process security
Perceived benet
Perceived risk
Realization degree
Performance

3.06
2.31
3.47
3.22
3.19
1.56
3.69
3.46
3.43
4.21
3.09
2.57
3.68

1.01
1.05
0.96
0.91
0.9
0.91
0.87
1.02
0.96
0.75
0.82
0.71
0.66

1
0.425
0.410
0.337
0.270
0.050
0.320
0.340
0.366
0.155
0.025
0.114
0.309

1
0.388
0.421
0.326
0.033
0.253
0.317
0.275
0.034
0.070
0.108
0.195

1
0.351
0.431
0.046
0.379
0.411
0.126
0.184
0.112
0.109
0.194

1
0.388
0.244
0.394
0.413
0.310
0.324
0.143
0.296
0.234

1
0.078
0.479
0.431
0.328
0.260
0.074
0.172
0.180

1
0.168
0.117
0.293
0.380
0.175
0.337
0.010

1
0.550
0.313
0.394
0.045
0.287
0.227

1
0.418
0.362
0.081
0.346
0.304

1
0.300
0.192
0.344
0.227

1
0.110
0.724
0.096

1
0.143
0.108

1
0.217

expected benets, expected risks, realization degree and performance of G2G information sharing. Table 2 shows the means,
standard deviations, and correlation of these constructs.
Next, the Cronbach as were tested to asses the convergent
validity of our results. Most values of Cronbach a were greater than
0.70, except for the degree of G2G information sharing, whose 0.64
value was considered acceptable (see Table 3).
This structure was subjected to a conrmatory factor analysis
using LISERL8.50 in order to assess whether all measurement items
were appropriate to each construct. The results showed that all the
standardized loadings were signicant, at least at the 5% level. The
AVE was calculated measuring the variance that a construct
captures from its indicators relative to the variance in measurement error. Most AVEs for the constructs in the study were greater
than 0.50, except that for interagency compatibility and realization
degree, which were 0.42 and 0.49. Table 3 shows the results of CFA.
5.2. Structural model
SEM was used to estimate parameters of the structural model,
and LISERL 8.50s maximum likelihood method was used to
compute it. The goodness-of-t indices suggested that the
structure had excellent model t. The ratio of x2 to the degrees
of freedom was acceptable (x2/df = 1.95). The root mean square
error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.043, which is less than the
cutoff maximum of 0.8. The conrmatory t index (CFI) of 0.98
exceeded 0.90. The goodness of t index (GFI = 0.88) and adjusted
goodness of t index (AGFI = 0.84) were both acceptable.
Table 4 shows the regression results of SEM. Hypothesis H2, H4,
H5, H6, H8, H9, H10a, H10b, H11a, H12 were supported. Authority
of upper-level managerial agency, Guanxi, compatibility, topmanagement support, economic cost, process security, expected
benets, and expected risks had signicant inuence on the degree
of G2G information sharing. Expected benets had signicant
inuence on the performance of G2G information sharing. The
degree of realization had signicant inuence on the performance
of G2G information sharing.
Hypothesis H1, H3, H7, H11b were not supported. Law and
policies, interagency trust, and IT capability had no signicant
effect on the degree of G2G information sharing. Expected risks had
no signicant effect on the performance of G2G information
sharing.

China. As such, Hypothesis 1 was not supported, though this is not

in agreement with the ndings of many previous studies. There is
a lack of laws and policies promoting G2G information sharing in
the initial stages of e-government development in China. In recent
years, different levels of Chinese governmental agencies have set
up many policies and regulations regarding e-government and
government information resource management to meet their own
needs. Although some national policies were set up in 2002 by the
central government, many local agencies continued to follow
their own policies, resulting in issues of e-government incompatibility nationwide. There are also no existing regulations to
guarantee the enforcement of the policies issued by the central
government.
Hypothesis 2 was strongly supported. In a network-oriented
governmental structure like China, a vertical system has dominant
power. Therefore, upper-level leadership is especially important
when G2G information is shared among horizontal government
agencies.
6.2. Interagency partnership and G2G information sharing
Hypothesis 3 was not supported in our research. The analysis
indicates that respondents from governmental agencies were
highly sensitive to the word trust. Most of the respondents
answered that their agencies had built good, trusting relationships
with other governmental agencies because they are served and led
by the Chinese Communist Party. However, other factors are
dominant in inuencing G2G information sharing.
Guanxi is a highly signicant factor in afrming Hypothesis 4.
The social relationship network built by it has become an
important source of competitive edge and competitive advantage
for business organizations in China. It plays an important role to
promote G2G information sharing in China, especially in the early
stage of interagency projects when the policies and standards are
not incomplete.
Hypothesis 5 was supported in our research. From early stages
of e-government development in China, government agencies have
set up their own IS, dened their own business workow and data
formats. Therefore, incompatibility is a critical barrier to G2G
information sharing.
6.3. Organizational readiness and G2G information sharing

6. Discussion
6.1. External environment and G2G information sharing
Laws and policies have not been found to have signicant
effects on G2G information sharing among government agencies in

H6, H8, and H9 were supported. G2G information sharing can

be efciently promoted only when organizational leaders are
willing to invest enough money, human resources, and time into
the process, as well as ensure that they are ready to change
previous administrative processes.

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

126
Table 3
Conrmatory factor analysis results of the model.
Layers

Constructs

Items

Reliability

AVE

Loading

External environments layer

Laws and policies

LP1
LP2
LP3
AU1
AU2
AU3

0.818

0.67

0.849

0.58

0.68
0.95
0.81
0.61
0.50
0.86

<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01

AT1
AT2
GX1
GX2
GX3
AC1
AC2
AC3

0.833

0.72

0.796

0.59

0.763

0.42

0.84
0.86
0.85
0.83
0.59
0.70
0.62
0.63

<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01

TS1
TS2
TS3
IT1
IT2
IT3
IT4
IT5
EC1
EC2
EC3
EC4
EC5
PS1
PS2

0.826

0.73

0.839

0.52

0.903

0.67

0.738

0.62

0.96
0.92
0.53
0.78
0.68
0.65
0.72
0.77
0.90
0.84
0.94
0.76
0.63
0.58
0.99

<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01

EB1
EB2
EB3
EB4
EB5
EB6
EB7
ER1
ER2
ER3
ER4
ER5

0.936

0.69

0.829

0.50

0.80
0.87
0.87
0.91
0.90
0.81
0.68
0.60
0.67
0.95
0.71
0.55

<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01
<0.01

RD1

0.636

0.49

0.84

<0.01

0.57

0.24
0.34
0.75

<0.05
<0.05
<0.01

0.83
0.87
0.51

<0.01
<0.01
<0.01

Upper-level leadership

Inter-agency partnerships layer

Interagency trust
Guanxi

Interagency compatibility

Organizational readiness layer

Top management support

IT capability

Cost

Process security

Individuals expectation layer

Expected benet

Expected risks

G2G information sharing

Realization degree of G2G

information sharing

Performance of G2G information

sharing

RD2
RD3
AI1

0.794

AI2
AI3
AI4

Table 4
Regression results of structural equation model test.

H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
H8
H9
H10a
H11a
H10b
H11b
H12
a
b

Path

Path coefcient

t value

Results

Law and policies ! Realization degree

Upper-level leadership ! Realization degree
Inter-agency trust ! Realization degree
Guanxi ! Realization degree
Compatibility ! Degree of realization
Top management support ! Realization degree
IT capability ! Realization Degree
Cost ! Realization degree
Process security ! Realization degree
Expected benets ! Realization degree
Expected risks ! Realization degree
Expected benets ! Performance of G2G IS
Expected risks ! Performance of G2G IS
Realization degree ! Performance of G2G IS

0.17
0.19b
0.04
0.21b
0.14a
0.20a
0.03
0.14a
0.19a
0.18b
0.14b
0.83b
0.03
0.08a

1.71
2.78
0.43
2.68
2.00
2.31
0.35
2.29
2.09
2.64
2.93
18.83
0.79
2.11

Not
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes

Signicant at 5% level of signicance.

Signicant at 1% level.

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

It is possible that G2G information sharing may be hindered

by high costs. Also G2G information sharing involves more than
one agency; there is no national policy that provides a
distribution mechanism for cooperative parties in different
function agencies, resulting agencies waiting for others to
invest.
Conicts occur when both G2G information sharing and
information security are concerned. The higher the degree of
information sharing between agencies, the more severe potential
security problems there will be. More people will have access to
the transmitted factors, resulting in increased likelihood of
information leaks or misuse.
Hypothesis 7 was not supported. In China, e-government
projects have been development since 1990s and most
agencies have set up their own IT Centers, system platforms and
websites.
6.4. Expected benets and risks of G2G information sharing
Our results indicate that the expected benets have a
signicant positive effect on the degree and performance of G2G
information sharing by government agencies, supporting Hypothesis 10a and 10b.
It is apparent that expected risks prevent agencies from
participating in G2G information-sharing, which supports Hypothesis 11a.
However, expected risks fail to produce negative effects on the
performance of information sharing. Thus, it is clear that
Hypothesis 11b was not supported. Our results also indicated
that G2G information sharing promoted social benets.

7. Conclusion and limitations

The central government in China has recently decided to
promote functions, improve their coordination, and thus improve
collaborating among government agencies. We attempted to
model the processes needed and determine what factors inuence
G2G information sharing between agencies.
We developed and tested an empirical model of a G2G
information sharing system to gain a better understanding of
what is needed and how its parts affect its ability to act efciently.
We found that Guanxi is signicant among business organizations
and government agencies; that perceived risks of political power
negatively affects information sharing; that upper-level leadership
is especially crucial to coordinate to reduce conicts among
government agencies; that compatibilities, top-management
support, cost, process security and political benets also show
have signicant inuence on G2G information sharing. However,
interagency trust and IT capability have not been found to be
signicant.
There were, however, some limitations to our research. First,
the sample data was primarily collected during the same period,
and thus it fails to reect the specic circumstances in different
developmental phases when agencies participate in the same
G2G information-sharing project. Second, the survey was
conducted only within agencies responsible for the regulation
of and services to an enterprises economical and nancial
activities in China.
Acknowledgements
The work on this paper was supported by the National Science
Funds in China (Project number: 71103021) and by the National
Science Funds in China (Project number: 70533030).

127

Appendix A
List of items by constructs.
G2G information sharing
Performance of G2G information sharing
1-The information sharing has reduced administrative cost.
2-The information sharing has increased administrative efciency.
3-The information sharing has integrated administrative services of
different agencies.
4-The employees have improved their service awareness.
Degree of G2G information sharing
1-The volume of information collected by our agency is sufcient.
2-The volume of information provided by our agency is enough.
3-The electronic degree of information sharing is high.
External environment layer
Laws and policies
1-The laws and policies about G2G information sharing are complete in
China.
2-The laws and policies about G2G information sharing are consistent in
China.
3-The laws and policies about G2G information sharing can be enforced in
China.
Upper-level relationship
1-There are the upper-level managerial agencies that are responsible for
information sharing.
2-The upper-level managerial agencies have the right to set up rules for
G2G information sharing.
3-The upper-level managerial agencies have the right and nancial
power to support and monitor G2G information sharing.
Interagency partnership layer
Interagency trust
1-Our agency trusts that other agencies will fulll their obligations.
2-Our agency trusts that other agencies will do positive action to us when
sharing information.
Guanxi
1-Our agency communicates with other agencies frequently.
2-Our agency cooperates and makes joint decision with other agencies.
3-We visit other agencies frequently.
Interagency compatibility
1-Information sharing with other agencies is compatible with our agencys
existing information systems and/or other electronic applications.
2-Our agency has the same data standards as other agencies for information
sharing.
Information sharing with other agencies is consistent with our agencys
goals and needs.
Organizational readiness layer
Top-management-support
1-The top-management of our agency is interested in information
sharing
2-The top-management participates in the design and detailed processes of
information sharing.
3-The top-management participates in the design and detailed processes of
information sharing.
IT capability
1-Our agencies has good information system infrastructure to support
information sharing.
2-Our agency has adequate experience to implement integrated
information technology.
3-Our agency has adequate expertise to support information sharing.
4-Our agency has good external IT consultants to support information
sharing.
5-Our employees have enough IT skill in operating computers.
Economic cost
1-Our agency has enough nancial power to develop the information
sharing system.
2-Our agency has enough nancial power for maintenance the information
sharing system.
3-Our agency has enough nancial power to integrate the system with
other agencies.
4-Our agency has enough nancial power to train our employees for
participating in the information sharing.
5-Our agency has enough nancial support to train our employees for
participating in the information sharing.

J. Fan et al. / Information & Management 51 (2014) 120128

128

Process security
1-The security countermeasures of information sharing have been
standardized during the whole information sharing process.
2-The information behaviors during the sharing process are traceable.
Individual expectation layer
Expected benet
1-It is hoped to reduce cost by G2G information sharing.
2-It is hoped to increase efciency by G2G information sharing.
3-It is hoped to reduce duplicate data collection, processing, and storage by
G2G information sharing.
4-It is hoped to improve information accuracy and comprehensiveness by
G2G information sharing.
5-It is hoped to improve information timeliness by G2G information
sharing.
6-It is hoped to improve information or information system integration by
G2G information sharing.
7-It is hoped to improve decision- and policy-making ability by G2G
information sharing.
Expected risks
1-It is afraid of losing full control over information by G2G information
sharing.
2-It is afraid of threatening agency policy-making/political power after G2G
information sharing is achieved.
3-It is afraid of misinterpretation or misuse of shared information by other
agencies.
4-It is afraid of the challenges to the accuracy/validity of shared
information.
5-It is afraid of external evaluation/criticism of shared information.

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Jing Fan is a vice professor in International Business
School of Beijing Foreign Studies University, China. She
earned her doctorate degree in MIS from Shanghai
Jiaotong University, China, in 2008. Her current
research focuses E-government, e-payment, interorganizational information sharing and integration.
Her articles have appeared in HICSS 2009, dgo.2007
(poster paper), and many Chinese journals.

Pengzhu Zhang is a professor of MIS and E-commerce,

and the director of the Center for Management
Information Systems at Antai School of Management,
Shanghai Jiaotong University. He earned his doctorate
degree in MIS from Xian Jiaotong University. His
research interests include group decision and team
support systems, nancial management information
systems, and E-government and E-commerce. His
articles have appeared in many international journals,
such as Decision Support Systems, Information Systems
Engineering, HICSS2008, HICSS 2009 and in many
Chinese journals.
David C. Yen is currently Dean and a Professor of MIS of
the School of Economics and Business, SUNY College at
Oneonta. Professor Yen is an established researcher
with many publications, including several books. His
articles have appeared in Communications of the ACM,
Decision Support Systems, Information & Management,
Information Sciences, Computer Standards and Interfaces,
Government Information Quarterly, Information Society,
Omega, International Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, and Communications of AIS.
Professor Yens research interests include data communications, electronic/mobile commerce, and systems analysis and design.