E-commerce in DEs: A Review of Theoretical Frameworks and Approaches
Collaborators: Richard Boateng, Alemayehu Molla and Richard Heeks
Abstract:
"E-commerce in Developing Economies: A Review of Theoretical Frameworks and Approaches," provides a synthesis of the current research on e-commerce in DCs and serves as a road map providing future directions for both academics and practitioners. Boateng, Molla, and Heeks undertook a meta-analysis of the published literature on e-commerce in DCs. The analysis covered 245 articles published between 1993 and 2006 in seventy-six different journals on electronic commerce, information systems, global information technology, development and developing countries. In taking stock of this literature, the chapter identifies enduring research themes, classifies the existing research based on such themes, and reviews the theoretical and conceptual approaches used by researchers.
The findings suggest that e-commerce research to date has mainly focused on outlining e-commerce potential and assessing adoption and implementation issues in DCs. The authors call for future research to focus more on measuring the benefits of e-commerce for DCs and on strategic understanding of how to achieve and sustain these benefits.
Reference: Boateng, R., Molla, A. and Heeks, R. (2009) E-commerce in Developing Economies: A Review of Theoretical Frameworks and Approaches. In K. Rouibah (ed) Emerging Markets and E-commerce in Developing Economies. Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing
