Spatial analysis of the digital economy’s impact on the ecological environment: evidence from Chinese cities

Research on the Impact Mechanism and Spatial Effects of the Digital Economy on Regional Economic Resilience in the Yellow River Basin of China

Against a backdrop of rising macroeconomic uncertainty, the digital economy has become a key driver of regional economic resilience. However, research on this relationship still requires further refinement for the Yellow River Basin, a special region characterized by ecological redline constraints and a dense concentration of resource-based cities. Using panel data from 78 prefecture-level cities over the period 2008–2019 and treating the global financial crisis as an exogenous shock, this study employs two-way fixed effects, mediation, and spatial Durbin models to examine the mechanisms and spatial patterns of the digital economy’s impact on economic resilience, while also incorporating heterogeneity analyses with regional characteristics of the Yellow River Basin for further investigation. The results show the following: (1) The digital economy expanded rapidly while resilience declined, with significant spatial divergence in both. (2) The digital economy positively affects resilience and is robust to various checks. (3) Industrial upgrading, innovation, and entrepreneurship serve as mediating channels. (4) The digital economy exerts spatial spillover effects on economic resilience at the basin-wide level. (5) The impact of the digital economy on resilience is moderated by ecological redline policies and resource dependence—western and resource-based cities gain the most, while eastern cities show negative spillovers from intensified factor competition. This study provides empirical evidence and policy insights for formulating differentiated digital transformation strategies in the Yellow River Basin.

Digital economy and all-around rural revitalization in China: a GIS-based spatial panel analysis of regional heterogeneity

Interaction impact of demographic and digital economy on carbon emissions in China

Despite the digital economy’s potential to support decarbonization, the role of population dynamics in shaping this association remains unclear. More empirical and theoretical studies are needed to understand this relationship. Based on this background, this study aims to explore the complex associations between the digital economy, population, and carbon emissions based on China 31 provinces panel data from 2000 to 2020 sourced from the China Statistical Yearbook. The study innovatively employs a population distance matrix to analyze how population factors condition the digital economy-emissions association and utilizes a structural equation model to overcome the limitations of traditional single-pathway mediation analyses. The findings suggest that the digital economy is significantly negatively associated with carbon dioxide emissions across China, with notable spatial spillover associations. Additionally, there is a strong negative-emissions association between population ageing and the digital economy, while population mobility exhibits a significant negative association. Moreover, as population density increases, the association between the digital economy and emissions initially intensifies, then diminishes.

Digital Empowerment and Spatial Equilibrium: An Empirical Examination of the Impact of the Digital Economy on Regional Economic Patterns from the Perspective of Common Prosperity

Common prosperity is an important goal of China’s high-quality development. Optimizing the spatial layout of the regional economy and guiding rational economic agglomeration are key to advancing coordinated regional development. The digital economy is profoundly reshaping regional economic patterns, but its mechanisms of influence on prefecture-level economic spatial agglomeration still require clarification. Based on panel data from 266 prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2023, this paper constructs a comprehensive digital economy index and employs two-way fixed effects and the Spatial Durbin Model to examine the impact of the digital economy on regional economic agglomeration and its spatial spillover effects. The results show that the digital economy significantly strengthens local economic agglomeration, with even stronger spatial spillover effects, exhibiting a regional siphoning phenomenon. This impact varies significantly across different locations, city types, and development levels. All three types of moderating factors positively enhance local agglomeration levels but inhibit positive spatial spillovers and exacerbate regional imbalances. This study provides empirical evidence for formulating location-specific digital development policies and promoting coordinated regional development.

Development of the Digital Economy and the Upgrading of Residents’ Consumption Structure: Spatial Spillovers and Heterogeneous Evidence from Chinese Provinces

The existing research has rarely integrated within-province associations, interprovincial spatial linkages, and multidimensional heterogeneity when examining how digitalization is related to increasing household consumption. Using a balanced panel of 30 provincial-level regions in China for 2011–2023, compiled from national and provincial statistical yearbooks (CSMAR) and the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index, this study constructs a 0–1 digital economy development index with entropy-weighted TOPSIS. Two-way fixed effects estimate the average within-province relationship; global and local Moran’s I and a spatial Durbin model evaluate spatial dependence and decompose direct, indirect, and total effects. Panel quantile regressions and alternative spatial weight matrices serve as robustness checks, whereas instrumental variables and double/debiased machine learning provide supplementary identification evidence. Digital economy development is positively associated with consumption upgrading in the baseline model. Under economic distance weights, the direct, indirect, and total effects are all significantly positive, although their structure differs across consumption categories, urban and rural groups, regions, and temporal stages. The findings support combining digital infrastructure with service capacity, skills, consumer protection, and interprovincial governance while avoiding uniform policy prescriptions across regions.

Does digital economy reduce urban carbon emissions intensity in China? New perspective on a nonparametric additive model

As the world’s largest carbon emitter, China faces significant pressure to reduce urban carbon emissions intensity (CEI) in order to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets. This study examines the impact of digital economy development on CEI using panel data from 249 Chinese cities during 2010–2019. Employing fixed-effects models and nonparametric additive models, we provide evidence that digital economy development is associated with reductions in CEI at the national level. Importantly, the relationship is both nonlinear and regionally heterogeneous. While the eastern and central regions display a generally declining association between digitalization and CEI, the western region exhibits an inverted U-shaped pattern. These results suggest that the environmental impacts of digitalization vary across regions and development stages, rather than following a uniform linear trend. Furthermore, distinguishing between traditional and new-generation digital economy components reveals that the new-generation digital economy exhibits broader and more consistent carbon-reduction effects across regions, whereas the environmental impacts of the traditional digital economy are more heterogeneous. The findings highlight the stage-dependent, region-specific, and technology-specific nature of the digital-environment nexus, offering new insights into how digital transformation can contribute to urban low-carbon development.