Does High Cybersecurity Capability Lead to Openness in Digital Trade? The Mediation Effect of E-Government Maturity

Abstract

Cybersecurity risks threaten the digital economy, including digital trade enabled by digital technologies. As parts of cybersecurity capability building, governments implement fragmented, in-flux policies to manage cybersecurity threats from cross-border digital activities. However, the lack of shared understandings of cybersecurity within cross-border digital innovations raises an increasing debate about how cybersecurity capability building policies can impact digital trade restrictions. This study develops a National Cyber Trade Behavior model to examine the relationship between national cybersecurity capability and digital trade restrictions. Utilizing the PLS-SEM-based path analysis, we draw empirical evidence to verify the developed model and reveal that building cybersecurity capability can indirectly support an open digital trade system, mediated by E-government maturity.