Citizen Experience With Online Licensing Portals

Authors

  • Samantha Barkley School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (current affiliation) Author
  • José Argueta Funes UC Berkeley School of Law (current affiliation) Author

Keywords:

e-licensing, administrative burden, digital government, permits, user experience

Abstract

Background: The practical operation of policy relating to e-licensing differs across settings, suggesting a need to examine implementation capacity and institutional design directly.

Objective: This study sought to explain differences in the implementation of e-licensing by examining institutional responsibility, administrative capacity, and administrative burden.

Methods: Survey data were collected from 170 relevant officials, professionals, service users, or regulated actors using measures of implementation quality, capacity, procedural clarity, transparency, and perceived effectiveness. Descriptive and adjusted regression analyses identified correlates of stronger implementation.

Results: Responses concerning e-licensing were complete for 169 participants. Of these, 51% reported consistent practice and 20% experienced substantial procedural or capacity barriers. Even after adjustment for organization size and jurisdiction, role clarity, staff capability, and formal guidance were associated with stronger performance.

Conclusion: The findings underline a practical gap between formal policy on e-licensing and the institutional work required to deliver it consistently. This means that consultation quality is shaped by how clearly institutions communicate, represent stakeholder input, and provide routes for review or response.

Study design: user-experience survey.

Publication history: Originally published in print on 15 June 2022, Volume 2, Article 13. Online abstract record added on 16 September 2026. Full-text PDF will be added when the digital galley is ready.

Author Biographies

  • Samantha Barkley, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand (current affiliation)

    Current designation: Lecturer.

    Current affiliation: School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

    Current author information supplied for the 2026 digital archive.

  • José Argueta Funes, UC Berkeley School of Law (current affiliation)

    Current designation: Assistant Professor of Law.

    Current affiliation: UC Berkeley School of Law, United States.

    Current author information supplied for the 2026 digital archive.

Issue 2

Published

2022-06-15

Issue

Vol. 2 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Samantha Barkley, José Argueta Funes

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright. Unless a different rights statement appears on an individual item, new articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). Reuse, sharing and adaptation, including for commercial purposes, are permitted with appropriate attribution, a link to the licence and an indication of changes. No additional restrictions may be imposed. Third-party material and historical archive items may have different rights; consult the item-specific notice.