The Modernization of Public Administration: The Impact of Public Employment on Digital Innovation in Italy

In Italy, despite many regulations disciplining e-government in PA, public services have not yet reached a good level of digitalization. Our research shows that one of the causes lies in the restrictive public employment policies that have changed the structure of public administration personnel. The research finds the existence of a causal link between some structural characteristics of the civil service and the level of e-government in local public administrations. These result highlight the need for an organizational transformation of local administrations, in terms of both rethinking the composition of staff and strengthening the technical knowledge of bureaucratic roles.