Study On The Impact Of The Digital Economy On China’s Green Total Factor Productivity

In the context of the current century-long changes in the world and the complex and profound changes in the international environment,the digital economy is considered a structural and innovative force that drives global economic development,reshapes the global economic model,constructs new national competitive advantages and changes the international competitive landscape.Domestically,the digital economy has become a new engine to achieve China’s economic growth in the context of the new development paradigm featuring dual circulation.The report of the 19 th Party Congress proposes to promote the deep integration of digital technology with the real economy and improve total factor productivity.From the perspective of urban development,the digital economy has transformed the traditional urban economic and social development model,bringing a disruptive impact on the power system and development path of urban innovation and development.From the perspective of international,domestic and urban development,the digital economy,which began with the continuous innovation and integration of information technology,has become a new engine for a new round of technological revolution,industrial change and local realization of high-quality development.However,the rapid growth of the global economy has also caused serious environmental problems,triggering a great deal of thinking about the future green and sustainable development of society.Adhering to the sustainable development strategy and guiding all kinds of production factors to cluster in green industries has become an inevitable choice for China to achieve green development under the new normal.Green Total Factor Productivity(GTFP)incorporates energy and environmental factors into the economic efficiency analysis framework,which can effectively reflect the sustainability of economic development.Therefore,how to guide the green development represented by Green Total Factor Productivity(GTFP)is an urgent issue to be solved.From the perspective of developing a green low-carbon circular economy and ecological modernization theory,the digital economy,which represents the direction of today’s technological and industrial revolution,will play a key role.It raises great hopes for reducing energy demand and emissions and reducing environmental risks,and is seen as a key driver for enhancing countries’ major competitiveness and achieving green growth and sustainable development goals.While the digital economy reflects the goal-oriented approach to green development,it cannot be ignored that the rapid growth of the digital economy may greatly liberate productivity while exacerbating pollution emissions through scale expansion.So,can the digital economy drive green total factor productivity? What is its transmission mechanism? Is there a spatial effect?What are its heterogeneous effects? Is there a threshold effect? In this context,it is of strong theoretical value and practical significance to study the relationship between the digital economy and green total factor productivity.Based on the existing literature and analysis of the current situation,this dissertation clarifies the mechanism of the effect of digital economy on green total factor productivity.Then,we empirically analyze the impact of digital economy on green total factor productivity in China from three dimensions: vertical static,spatial and policy.Finally,based on the previous characterization and empirical analysis,corresponding conclusions are drawn and corresponding policy recommendations are proposed.The main findings of this dissertation are summarized as follows: First,the growth effect of the digital economy on China’s green total factor productivity is empirically tested using multiple linear regressions.The results show that the digital economy significantly contributes to green total factor productivity(GTFP),and after replacing the index,the digital economy significantly contributes to the green technological progress(GTC),and has no significant effect on the green technological efficiency(GEC).This implies that the digital economy mainly contributes to green total factor productivity by driving changes in technological progress in terms of production technology capability and manufacturing process advancement.The analyses based on the perspectives of urban resource endowment and time stage,regional distribution,as well as the level of financial development and openness to the outside world reveal significant heterogeneity in the boosting utility of the above effects.The promotion effects show that the eastern coastal cities are larger than the non-eastern coastal cities,and the central-east is larger than the west;the higher the level of openness and financial development of cities,the stronger the promotion effect of digital economy on green total factor productivity,and the two play a positive moderating role.Mechanism analysis shows that innovation effect,structural effect,and energy saving effect are important mechanisms for the digital economy to influence green total factor productivity.Using the threshold model,it is found that there is a non-linear relationship between the effects of digital economy on green total factor productivity as the development level of digital economy increases.Second,the spatial Durbin model(SDM)with double fixed effects in space and time was used to examine the spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on green total factor productivity in China.On the one hand,both the level of urban digital economy development and green total factor productivity have significant spatial positive correlation characteristics,with higher(lower)cities clustered together,i.e.,there is spatial dependence.On the other hand,the improvement of digital economy development level not only enhances the green total factor productivity of the region,but also has a positive spatial spillover effect on the green total factor productivity of neighboring regions,and if the interactive influence of spatial factors is ignored,the promotion effect of digital economy on green total factor productivity will be underestimated.Third,the impact of digital economy policy on green total factor productivity in China is examined in a quasi-natural experiment with the broadband China pilot.The results show that digital economy policy significantly contributes to green total factor productivity in China,and provide a side-by-side demonstration of the importance of strengthening the digital economy base,i.e.,digital infrastructure development.The findings hold after conducting robustness tests such as parallel trend test,placebo test,excluding the effects of other policies in the same period,replacing the explanatory variables,controlling for other levels of fixed effects,and adding a time trend term.The analyses based on the perspective of regional distribution,the level of financial development and openness to the outside world find significant heterogeneity in the utility of digital economy policy on green total factor productivity enhancement;and the policy generates positive spatial spillover effects.Based on the above conclusions,this dissertation puts forward four policy recommendations: accelerating the development of digital economy empowerment and building an ecological system that integrates green and low-carbon transformation;accelerating the construction of digital infrastructure and consolidating a solid base for digital economy development;implementing differentiated regional policies and exploring new paths for characteristic green development;and increasing external opening and financial development to help the top-level design of digital economy.The conclusion is of great significance to promote the construction of urban ecological civilization and high-quality development of urban economy with digital economy.The marginal contributions of this dissertation are mainly reflected in the following three aspects: first,this dissertation empirically tests the impact of digital economy on China’s green total factor productivity in three dimensions: vertical static,horizontal spatial and policy level,providing theoretical and empirical basis for the green growth effect of digital economy;second,this dissertation deepens the existing literature by verifying its mechanism channels more comprehensively from innovation effect,structural effect and energy saving effect;third,this paper incorporates resource endowment,openness to the outside world,financial development and digital economy,and green total factor productivity into a unified framework for analysis,broadening the research horizon and providing empirical evidence for policy analysis.