Information digitalisation and local institutional agility: evidence from ASEAN countries

We investigate the dynamic impact of information globalisation de facto and de jure as a proxy of the information digitalisation on institutional quality or agility, incorporating the role of human capital, economic growth, and fiscal expenditure. Given the considerable heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependency, mixed order of integration and potential endogeneity in our data, we analyse panel data by utilising Cross-Sectional ARDL and Dynamic Common Correlation Effect under Generalised Methods of Moments (DCCE-GMM) for eight ASEAN member countries. Our empirical investigation demonstrates that public institutions respond positively towards information globalisation (both de facto and de jure), validating our proposition on local institutional agility. Human capital, economic growth and fiscal expenditure are significant factors in defining the public institution. Our findings are robust considering the potential reverse causality between institutional quality and information globalisation de facto and de jure. We provide several policy implications.