Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on research that models factors that favour the extension of e-government. Hypotheses were proposed regarding the role of municipal resources, politicians and environment as elements that stimulate e-government. It aims to argue that larger municipalities have more resources available to implement technological initiatives, that politicians receptive to the use of technology to communicate with citizens encourage e-government, and that the local environment, as measured by citizens' wealth and business activity, is influential.

Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model was tested using data from 92 Spanish city councils. A structural equation model, estimated using partial least squares, was employed as an analysis technique.

Findings – The data supported the model, emphasising that municipal resources are the most important factor.

Research limitations/implications – The researchers analysed only one year of data from one country.

Practical implications – The model suggested can be used to improve policy-making and practice. The paper includes a brief case study of the Saragossa City Council, one of the leading councils in Spain, with regard to e-government initiatives.

Originality/value – Many recent papers have studied factors explaining the extension of e-government. These studies have analysed the influence of each of the factors separately. Here a structural equation model is proposed that allows analysis of the effects of various factors jointly. The variables employed have been modelled as latent variables, since it is shown that this is the most appropriate way to represent the complex reality of e-government.