Study On The Impact Of Internet Development On Urban Green Total Factor Productivity

At present,China’s economy has entered the stage of high-quality development,improving green total factor productivity is an important way to achieve high-quality development of China’s economy.With the wide application of the new generation of information technology represented by the internet in China,it has a profound impact on all aspects of China’s economy and society.So,what is the relationship between internet development and the quality of economic growth?Does it affect China’s green total factor productivity?What mechanism does internet development affect total factor productivity through?How to optimize internet development to promote high-quality economic growth in China?This is a question worthy of further exploration.On the basis of a comprehensive review of relevant literature on internet development and green total factor productivity,this paper drawing on the relevant theories of environment economics and information economics,firstly explains internet development influence green total factor productivity theoretically,based on the data of cities at prefecture level and above in our country,internet development and green total factor productivity have been measured comprehensively;Then,255cities in China are taked as research objects,analyze the influence of internet development on green total factor productivity from six aspects including the whole nation,different areas,different period,heterogeneity influence,network effect and lag effect,tests the influence mechanism of internet development on green total factor productivity empirically from three aspects of technology innovation,industry upgrading and energy saving and emission reduction.Finally,according to the theoretical analysis and empirical test results,this paper puts forward some policy suggestions on optimizing internet development to promote high-quality economic growth in China.The conclusions of this paper are as follows:Firstly,from 2003 to 2016,the level of internet development in China showed an overall upward trend.By region,the eastern region has the highest level of internet development,while the central region has the lowest.During this period,China’s green total factor productivity index showed a steady growth trend.From the perspective of the source of green total factor productivity growth,technology progress and efficiency improvement jointly promoted the improvement of green total factor productivity,and the contribution of green technical efficiency was greater.By region,the difference of green total factor productivity index between eastern,central and western regions is not great.According to the mean value of green total factor productivity index,the ranking is as follows:Western region>central region>eastern region;In terms of decomposition of green total factor productivity,the green technology progress index of eastern region is the highest,while that of central region is the lowest.While to the green technology efficiency index,the west is the highest,the east is the lowest.Secondly,both static and dynamic panel model regression results show that internet development has a significant positive impact on urban green total factor productivity,and this effect is realized mainly through the improvement of green technology efficiency promoted by internet development.By region,there are significant differences about the impact of internet development on green total factor productivity in eastern,central and western China.The impact of internet development on green total factor productivity in China shows a trend of"central>eastern>western".Comparing by different periods,the impact of internet development on China’s green total factor productivity is the largest in 2014-2016,followed by2009-2013,while there is no significant impact in 2003-2008.To control variable,the level of economic development,environmental regulation,marketization degree and R&D spending has significant positive influence on green total factor productivity,industrial structure,government size has significant negative impact on green total factor productivity,the influence of foreign investment on green total factor productivity is not significant.Thirdly,the heterogeneous impact of internet development on urban green total factor productivity is empirically tested from seven aspects:urban economic development level,urban scale and grade,human capital,resource endowment,marketization degree,industrial structure and environmental regulation intensity by using the generalized moment estimation method of dynamic panel model.The results show that compared with low-income cities,big cities,prefecture-level cities,cities with low human capital,resource-based cities,cities with low marketization,industrial-oriented cities and cities in"non-dual-control areas",internet development has a greater positive impact on green total factor productivity in high-income cities,small and medium-sized cities,cities at or above the sub-provincial level,cities with high human capital,non-resource-based cities,cities with high degree of marketization,service-dominated cities,and cities in"dual-control areas".The network effect and lag effect of internet development on green total factor productivity are further tested.It is found that when the internet penetration rate exceeds 42.5%,internet development has a significant network effect on green total factor productivity,but the lag effect is not obvious.Fourthly,the mediating effect model is used to test the influence mechanism,and find that technology innovation,industry upgrading,energy saving and emission reduction all have partial mediating effect in the influence of internet development on green total factor productivity.Specifically,internet development can improve green total factor productivity through six channels,namely improving the technology innovation ability of cities,promoting industrial upgrading,reducing the electricity consumption per unit GDP,reducing the emission of SO₂per unit GDP,reducing the emission of waste water per unit GDP,reducing the emission of smoke and dust per unit GDP;The mediating effects of technology innovation,industry upgrading,electricity consumption per unit GDP,SO₂emission per unit GDP,waste water discharge per unit GDP,smoke and dust emission per unit GDP accounted for 24.1%,8.9%,4%,38.8%,6.5%,and 5.8%of the total effect respectively.Finally,based on the research conclusion of this paper and development status of China’s internet and green total factor productivity,from the government vigorously promote the construction of internet infrastructure,eliminate the“digital divide”,enterprise actively integrate into the"internet+manufacturing",and constantly improve urban technology innovation ability,use internet technology to develop new forms of business,actively promote the development of tertiary industry and speed up industrial upgrading,vigorously promote energy conservation and emission reduction by means of internet technology,raise residents’awareness of environment protection,advocate green consumption,and promote the construction of"internet+logistics"green logistics system,taking measures in accordance with local conditions,adopting comprehensive policies and making full use of the promoting effect of the internet on urban green total factor productivity six aspects,the paper puts forward some policy suggestions on optimizing internet development to promote high-quality economic growth in China.