*5.3. Structural Model (Inner Model) Analysis*

The structural model (Figure 7) reflects the path hypothesized in the research framework. Using the bootstrap resampling technique (5000 resamplings), the path coefficient was then tested to investigate the significance of the hypothesis. The t-value > 1.96 is significant at *p* < 0.05, and t-value > 2.58 is significant at *p* < 0.01 [67]. A structural model is also assessed based on the R2, Q2, and significance of paths. The goodness of the model is determined by the strength of each structural path, determined by the R2 value for the dependent variable; the value for R2 should be equal to or over 0.1 [67]. The values of R<sup>2</sup> in PLS are interpreted similarly to those obtained from multiple regression analysis. It was considered that R<sup>2</sup> values of 0.75, 0.50, and 0.25 are substantial, moderate, and weak, respectively [67], and evaluated subsequently. Hence, the predictive capability is established.

In this study, information quality accounted for 69.6 percent of the variance in explaining perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Meanwhile, service quality accounted for 33.9 percent of the variance explaining perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Likewise, perceived ease of use accounted for 69.5 percent, and perceived usefulness accounted for 51.2 percent of the variance explaining SYAU. Finally, the current model explained 57.5 of the variance in acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS, which provided substantial explanatory power and predictive capability (see Figure 7).

Furthermore, the model fit was assessed using SRMR. The value of SRMR was 0.100, equal to the required value of 0.10, indicating acceptable model fit [78]. Further assessment of the goodness of fit hypotheses were tested to ascertain the significance of the relationship (Table 4).

**Figure 7.** Measurement and structure equation model results of the research model.



The studied 5000 resamples also generate 95% confidence intervals, and hypotheses testing results are summarized in Table 5. A confidence interval not equal to zero indicates a significant relationship. Further, Q2 establishes the predictive relevance of the endogenous constructs. A Q<sup>2</sup> above 0 shows that the model has predictive relevance. The result shows that there is significance in the prediction of the construct in the research model. Therefore, except for H4 and H5, the rest of the hypotheses have positive and significant impact on the acceptance, which is a proxy predictor to NRLAIS operational success.

H1 evaluates whether SYQU has a positive and significant effect on the acceptance and SYAU of NRLAIS. The result revealed that a positive and significant impact on SYAU (β = 0.639, t = 10.019, *p* = 0.000), on the SRQU (H1a: β = 0.583, t = 9.879, *p* = 0.000), on INQU (H1b: β = 0.583, t = 9.879, *p* = 0.000), and on the PEOU (H1c: β = 0.194, t = 2.128, *p* = 0.034). Hence, H1 was fully supported. The result shows (Figure 7 and Table 5) that 63.9% of NRLAIS acceptance and actual usage was explained by the system quality variables with indicators including easy to learn (SYQU1: 84.3%), easy to use (SYQU2: 78.6%), and useful for doing daily business effectively under secured conditions (SYQU3: 81.9%).

Secondly, the result shows that (Figure 7 and Table 5) information quality is found to have a positive and significant influence on acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS (H2). The result revealed that the relation between INQU and SYAU (β = 0.436, t = 3.600, *p* = 0.000) (2a) on perceived usefulness, i.e., INQU -> PRUS (β = 0.283, t = 3.347, *p* = 0.001), and (2b) on perceived ease of use, i.e., INQU -> PEOU (β = 0.275, t = 3.818, *p* = 0.000), has a positive and significant influence. Hence, H2 was supported. Respondents admitted that information quality of NRLAIS has a positive and significant influence on acceptance and actual use. When the information generated by NRLAIS is accurate, useable, relevant, reliable, and understandable, the woreda land administration experts consider the information system useful and valuable. This result revealed that information availability (69.8%) is the main characteristic of NRLAIS to ensure a necessary level of acceptance for land administration

to provide seamless services that do not halt business. In addition, information usability (86.2%), information accuracy (89%), information relevance, and understandability (74.3%) are influencing factors that determine information quality.


**Table 5.** Mean, STDEV, T-Values, *p*-Values, R2, and Q2.

Thirdly, service quality has a positive and significant influence on acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS (H3) (3a) on the perceived ease of use, (3b) on the information quality, and (3c) on the perceived usefulness of NRLAIS. The result revealed that a positive and significant impact on SYAU (β = 0.208, t = 2.057, *p* = 0.040); (3a) on the perceived ease of use, i.e., SRQU -> PEOU (β = 0.465, t = 5.537, *p* = 0.000); (3b) on the information quality, i.e., SRQU -> INQU (β = 0.575, t = 12.019, *p* = 0.000); and (3c) on the perceived usefulness, i.e., SRQU -> PRUS (β = 0.213, t = 2.222, *p* = 0.027). Hence, H3 was fully supported. The SRQU construct is one of the most influential service quality measurement instruments and is widely used in many applications, and the development of service quality affects IS success factor. The result revealed that the technical support service provided by the federal and regional land institutions is significantly affecting the acceptance and actual usage of NRLAIS at the woreda offices of land administration. The result revealed that 20.8% of the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS were explained by the quality of support services (Figure 7). This includes the knowledge and skill transfer made through classroom training and during data migration, on-the-spot support by a mobile IT team, and remote helpdesk support. Such support services were found relevant to the job performance and awareness regarding compliance with actual system use by the woreda land administration experts.

Conversely, H4 evaluates whether PEOU has a positive and significant effect on SYAU of NRALIS. The result revealed that PEOU has a positive but an insignificant impact on acceptance and SYAU (β = 0.086, t = 0.852, *p* = 0.395), and (4a) PEOU has a positive and significant effect on perceived usefulness, i.e., PEOU -> PRUS (β = 0.291, t = 2.556, *p* = 0.011). Hence, H4 was not supported, while H4a was fully supported.

Similarly, H5 evaluates whether PRUS has a positive and significant effect on acceptance and SYAU of NRLAIS. The result revealed that PRUS has a positive but insignificant impact on acceptance and SYAU (β = 0.111, t = 1.285, *p* = 0.199). Hence, H5 was not supported.

*5.4. Mediation Analysis*

Mediation analysis was performed to assess the mediating (INQU, SRQU, PEOU and PRUS) role of system actual use outcomes. The results revealed an insignificant (*p* > 0.05) mediating role of PRUS (H3a: β = 0.024, t = 2.000, *p* = 0.322) and a partially significant (*p* = 0.046) mediating role of PEOU (H3c: β = 0.040, t = 2.000, *p* = 0.046). INQU was found to significantly mediate the relationship between SRQU and SYAU of NRLAIS (see Table 6).

**Table 6.** Total, specific, and indirect effect between the independent variables and dependent variable.


#### **6. Discussion**

Land administration governance in Ethiopia is complex and requires the use and integration of an innovative and robust set of land registration information technologies that meet the social, economic, and environmental goals of tenure security and service delivery. Innovative information technologies and systems can be used to help build a quicker, accessible, affordable, and more reliable LIS. This, in turn, provides landholders, communities, business firms, and the general public with a clearer sense of tenure security, particularly to women, by providing evidence of recognized and enforceable land and resource rights. Landholders with secure tenure rights will be incentivized to make longterm land-based investment that improve welfare and environmental outcomes.

This study demonstrated that the theoretical application of the research model that integrated selected variables from the IS success and TAM models to explain the acceptance and actual usage of NRLAIS in Ethiopia; acceptance and usage serve as proxy predictors of NRLAIS' operational success. The paper explored the determining factors and their relationships with technical (SYQU), organizational (SRQU and INQU), and the behavioral (PEOU and PRUS) aspects of the woreda land administration experts that influence the acceptance and actual usage of NRLAIS in Ethiopia. These constructs, along with measuring the LRIS' operational success, pave the way to scientifically research land administration system digitalization, particularly in developing economies. The research suggests that the IS success model integrated with TAM with selected variables was applicable for explaining LRIS acceptance and actual usage as a proxy predictor for operational success. This study does not include the organizational net benefit in its latent variable constructs measured by productivity, competitiveness, and management improvements. The discussion of the results is presented in detail as follows.

Firstly, based on the structural model, the study examined the relationship between the system quality and acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS. The results indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between the system quality and the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS (H1) on SRQU (1a), on INQU (1b), and on PEOU (1c). Based on that, it can be inferred that the woreda land administration experts relate this system quality with the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS. The system quality constructs reflect the technical aspects of NRLAIS to its acceptance and actual use. These are that it is easy to learn, easy to use, and useful to do daily business related to land transaction management and service delivery at the woreda land administration offices. Malik et al. [55] and Hamdan and Al-Hajra [79] observed that a system's level of association had a positive influence on the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness of the system under investigation [55,56]. Moreover, the system quality would also affect the information quality and the service quality of the organization under study, and this, in turn, affects the acceptance and actual usage of the system.

As described in the background section, the technical requirement review provides an understanding of the different components of NRLAIS as an automated and streamlined land registration information system for rural land. The functional and legal aspects of the rural land administration are key requirements of NRLAIS. This includes data capturing, data management, visualization, and workflow management and reporting. The NRLAIS system development process has engaged the regional and federal level land administration professionals in terms of the definition, verification, and approval of the functional and legal requirements as part of its quality assurance system. Hence, the multitiered application architecture makes NRLAIS possible to use at the different administrative levels with differentiated functionality and user interface. The login function and session time-out are also suited to secure the user's access to the system and the subsystems before any transaction begins. Furthermore, the classified roles of system users (officer, expert, and supervisor) represent read-only, data entry, and approval, and change secure system access as primary actors in the existing administrative roles in the institutions that operate the NRLAIS.

Regarding information quality, the results of this study are consistent with what was found by Nugroho and Chang et al. [48,80]. NRLAIS also manages information regarding land transaction performance at the woreda level, such as the type and patterns of land transactions made. Updating the land record is one of the key functions of the woreda land administration offices. This affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the land administration system and staff job performance related to all land transactions. Relevant and accurate land information affects operational business decisions of transactions to the regional governments, to federal ministries, and to the general public. Since land relationships change frequently, the information in NRLAIS needs to be updated and maintained. Timely and accurate management of information ensured through well-maintained cadastral and land use related information should reflect the reality on the ground. Complete and up-to-date land information will support expedited business decisions made by the woreda land administration offices, thereby enhancing legitimacy and trustworthiness of the woreda land administration offices. Further to this, the availability of such geospatial land information lays a foundation for the national spatial data infrastructure to flourish and be accessible to all concerned in order to inform strategic and policy reform.

Moreover, NRLAIS has a modular design that allows the system to be deployed at several administrative levels. The modular stack and the web-based server design of NRLAIS enable the transfer of data and information from lower to higher administration levels to include zone, region, and federal levels that facilitate easier deployment. However, this data and information flow is yet to happen due to low and weak telecom network infrastructure coverage in the country for access to strong bandwidth Internet services.

With regard to service quality, the result of the current study is consistent with the findings of Al Fraihat [81], Nugroho [48], and Malik et al. [55]. These studies found that the effective role or support service of the technical staff, (i.e., service quality) is positively related to the eventual use of the system [81]. Competency of the support staff, vendor support, and availability of training affected acceptance and use of IS [82]. The current study also revealed that the technical support service is significantly affecting the acceptance and actual usage of NRLAIS. However, an IT-enabled LRIS at this decentralized scale needs a solid IT management approach, which is dependable, available, and has good empathy of support staff. NRLAIS with sufficient quality affects the type and intensity of technical support in the transition operation from manual to digital service delivery. The quality of support service, in turn, affects adherence to standardized methods and procedures for service delivery in the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS.

The transition and service operation is the highest priority for NRLAIS to function and be operational at the woreda level. In the context of the establishment of NRLAIS, it is essential to have a proper knowledge transfer from the developer to an in-house or outsourced local IT company, which carries out the ongoing system maintenance, upgrading, and operational support services. The woreda land administration experts' knowledge and skill acquired through training, experience gained during data migration, self-practice, and helpdesk support are also critical success factors. Therefore, the support service quality should be strong, regular, dependable, and available when needed at the woreda level.

Fourthly, the analysis revealed that perceived ease of use has a positive but insignificant effect on the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS. However, perceived ease of use has a positive and significant effect on the perceived usefulness of NRLAIS (H4a). Hence, H4 was not supported, while H4a was supported. Malik et al. [55,56] found that perceived usefulness is influenced by an understanding of the information quality; [83] the current study analysis also revealed similar findings (H2b). Machdar and Malik et al. [55,56,84] found that the quality of information positively affects perceived usefulness and ease of use, and perceived ease of use positively affects perceived usefulness [84]. Several studies have found strong relationships between perceived usefulness and self-reported use [85], extent of use [86], or dependence on an information system [87]. Empirical studies in various contexts have confirmed that the post-usage perception of usefulness has a strong association with actual use [88]. This holds true in the current study too, since the hypothetical relationships between the perceived ease of use effect on acceptance and actual use was found to be significant. This may be due to the fact that the survey collected post-usage perceptions rather than measuring intention to use prior-actual system use. Therefore, the behavioral antecedences of perceived ease of use and actual use should not be underestimated to meet operational success, though perceived ease of use has shown a weak relationship to actual use in the analysis.

The result of this study revealed that 69.5% of the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS is explained by the perceived ease of use construct (Figure 7). The quality of information affects the perceived ease of use (27.5%), as well as the perceived usefulness (28.3%) of the woreda land administration experts. This, in turn, affects the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS to maintain the land records of subsequent land transactions and to make effective and efficient business decisions in daily service delivery.

#### **7. Conclusions**

Investigation of the general antecedents of what causes users' acceptance and use of innovative information technology in the land administration domain is critical for digital transformation and improve service delivery. The research has attempted to understand the influencing factors of the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS in Ethiopia to gauge and predict its operational success. The research found that, despite the fact that the NRLAIS program of Ethiopia is at the initial stage of establishment, the speed and scale of its implementation have implications for its acceptance and actual use. The authors argue that investigating what factors affect this transition is worth studying in order to document the experience and generate a knowledge base for similar initiatives in other countries.

The research demonstrated that a system must be developed that understands the functional, technical, legal, and administrative requirements. These factors significantly affect the acceptance and actual use of the system and better predict its operational success. Similarly, the organizational aspects related to support services and information quality determine the behavioral attributes of staff to accept and use NRLAIS and rely on it to make business decisions and deliver services on a daily basis.

Moreover, twelve of the fourteen constructs (hypotheses) in this study were found to be significant in terms of affecting the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS. The findings rendered a theoretical and practical knowledge base about land administration information digitalization and operational success. Practically, the findings of this study help the country to make strategic and policy decisions on the planning, implementation, and use of a land registration information system for sustainable land resource management and governance systems. Secondly, the study demonstrated that, while the service quality and information quality constructs to the acceptance and actual use of NRLAIS deserve an independent construct, they are also playing a mediating role between system quality and actual use of the system. The proposed model empirically revealed strong construct validity, in that it captures multiple aspects of each variable, which is a change from much of the measurement of LIS success model constructs that focus on only one aspect of the construct.

Historically, the land administration system in Ethiopia has evolved in the urban–rural cadastral and land registration system divide. This costs the country a great deal in terms of economic, social, and environmental management and governance systems. With the depth of functional and legal requirements compliance, NRLAIS is instrumental in strengthening secure tenure rights in rural jurisdictions. It also demonstrates that standardization would pave the way for the development of a unified land administration information system in Ethiopia that embraces both urban and rural land tenure.

Despite the study's contribution to policy, research, and practice, the authors suggest that a similar future research undertaking would be recommendable in other developing countries and should include other variables that are not considered in this study. The method applied in this study adds to the knowledge base and replicability of the proposed model under the land administration information domain. Further, future studies should include the organizational net benefit in their latent variable constructs as measured by productivity, competitiveness, and management improvements. Finally, the research did not consider the success of NRLAIS from the perspective of an external system user, such as financial institutions, courts, businesses, and smallholder farmers, which would be worth studying in a future research undertaking.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.A.A., F.S.W. and T.T.N.; methodology, S.A.A.; software, S.A.A.; validation, S.A.A., F.S.W. and T.T.N.; formal analysis, S.A.A.; investigation, S.A.A.; resources, S.A.A., F.S.W. and T.T.N.; data curation, S.A.A.; writing—original draft preparation, S.A.A.; writing review and editing, S.A.A., F.S.W. and T.T.N.; visualization, S.A.A.; supervision, F.S.W. and T.T.N.; project administration, Kelly Robbins; funding acquisition, S.A.A., F.S.W. and T.T.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The research was supported by the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Program, financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) under cooperative agreement AID-OAA-A-11-00012. The authors highly acknowledge and appreciate this generous financial support, without which this research could not have been realized.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** All respondents of survey questionnaire and key informant interviewees are not mentioned by name. Results are aggregated and cannot be tracked back to individual person.

**Informed Consent Statement:** All person involved in the study participated voluntarily and agreed the study results derived from their responses.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Dilu Shaleka, Dean of College of Development Studies of Addis Ababa University and his finance team who have been supportive to all administrative requests. We would also like to extend our thanks to Kelly Robbins, Senior Program Officer, of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), who administers the PEER grant funds, for her unwavering support to our research work. We owe our full-hearted thanks to Yohannes Redda from Ministry of Agriculture of the Responsible and Innovative Land Administration Project (REILA II), Dawit Woldemariam from Oromia Land Administration and Use Bureau, Demisachew Agegnehu from Amhara Region Bureau of Land, and Henok Yosef from

SNNP regional state, who have supported the data collection process. Without their close support the remote data collection would not have been successful. Our thanks also goes to all the study woreda land administration experts who set aside time to answer the research questions under an unprecedented operating context in the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak restrictions, social instability, and security conditions in the country.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
