Research On The Influence Of Digital Economy On Urban Green Development

With the rapid development of the digital economy,China’s economy has entered a new stage of high-quality development in recent years accompanied with many serious ecological problems resulted from previous rapid development.The report of the 20 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has put forward definite requirements for China’s digital economy and green development in the new era.As an important driving force for China’s economic development,the digital economy provides an effective approach to China’s urban green development.There are few research papers that provide theoretical explanations and empirical studies on the impact of digital economy on urban green development.In view of the aforesaid problem,the author combines the emerging classical economics with human geography theory to explore the internal logic and impact mechanism of digital economy that drives the green development of Chinese cities.This has important theoretical and practical significance for promoting high-quality development of the Chinese economy and comprehensively building a socialist modernized country.The specific content of this article includes the following aspects: Firstly,based on a systematic review of relevant research papers on digital economy and urban green development at home and abroad,the author analyzes existing researches on the digital economy,urban green development,and the impact of the digital economy on urban green development.Secondly,from the perspective of labor division,the author analyzes the internal relationship between the evolution of labor division,digital economy,and urban green development using the new classical economic paradigm,and then proposes a theoretical analysis framework for the impact of digital economy on urban green development.The theoretical mechanism for the impact of digital economy on urban green development is further analyzed from the perspective of spatial division of labor after consideration of spatial factors.Thirdly,the author analyzes the status quo of digital economy and urban green development in China,and elaborates in detail the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of urban digital economy and green development based on the connotation of digital economy and green development by evaluating and measuring the level of urban digital economy and green development.Fourthly,using panel data from 282 cities in China from 2011 to 2019,the author empirically examines the transmission mechanism of digital economy on urban green development from three aspects,namely,technological innovation,division of labor evolution,and environmental regulation,using intermediary effect and threshold effect models based on a theoretical and logical analysis of the impact of digital economy on urban green development from the perspective of labor division.Fifthly,using panel data from 282 cities in China from 2011 to 2019,the author further empirically verifies the spatial impact of the digital economy on urban green development by constructing a spatial Dubin model.The main research conclusions of this study include: Firstly,driven by the digital economy,the participants,economic systems,and governance mechanisms for urban green development will achieve improved endogenous capacities.From the perspective of the division of labor,the digital economy relies on digital infrastructures to achieve industrial digitization,digital industrialization,and digital governance through technological transformation,leading to improved transaction efficiency,accelerated evolution of the division of labor,and enhanced efficiency of urban resource allocation.Meanwhile,the digital economy relies on the government,"the visible hand",to formulate green development systems and environmental governance policies used to promote the evolution of division of labor towards a "green division of labor" structure for achieving the green development of cities.Based on the concept of ultra marginal analysis in emerging classical economics,the author constructs a theoretical model for the impact of digital economy on urban green development.From the results of cross marginal decision-making and general equilibrium analysis,it can be seen that the impact of the digital economy on the level of urban green development is not single linear.Secondly,from the perspective of spatial division of labor,digital economy can overcome the restriction of geographical distances,to achieve cross-city division of labor and cooperation,and spatial spillover effects,with an influence on urban green development.Under self-sufficiency decision-making,traditional complete division of labor decision-making,and digital economy complete division of labor decision-making,spatial division of labor has a positive contribution to the utility of final green development products.Spatial division of labor does not affect supramarginal decision-making analysis.The impact of digital economy on the level of urban green development is not single linear.Thirdly,from the empirical test results for the impact of digital economy on urban green development,it can be seen that digital economy can effectively promote the level of urban green development.With technological innovation,evolution of division of labor,and environmental regulation as intermediary variables and threshold variables,digital economy has an indirect impact on urban green development.In addition,the level of transport accessibility and direct foreign investment have significantly negative effects on urban green development,while economic development level and industrial structure have significant positive effects on urban green development.Fourthly,according to the test results for the spatial effects of digital economy on urban green development,digital economy has a significantly positive spatial spillover effect on urban green development.Based on the above research conclusions and the results for the effects of the digital economy on urban green development,the author proposes policy recommendations for promoting urban green development in China by promoting the coordinated development of urban digital economy,actively leveraging the transmission effects of technological innovation,division of labor evolution,and environmental regulation,and fully utilizing the spatial spillover effects of digital economy on urban green development in China.