Institutional Environment for Business-to-Business (B2B) E-Commerce Usage: Toward an Understanding in the Chinese Context

This study leveraged new institutional economics (NIE) theory to examine whether and how four facets of the institutional environment—industrial pressure, governmental support, legal adequacy, and national culture compatibility—affect business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce usage. Due to a lack of overarching research models and empirical evidence, several research steps leading to interview data were taken to address the research question: 1) a comprehensive literature review on NIE theory and the four institutional factors; 2) a pilot study surveying 11 firms in China using short, structured questionnaires; and 3) focused phone interviews with three Chinese firms using non-directive, open-response questions based on the pilot study results. Then a pattern-matching, literal replication approach was followed to conduct a cross-case analysis. Results suggested that industry pressure from customer usage and requests was an important driver of B2B e-commerce usage in those Chinese firms. A supportive governmen...