Research On The Impact Of Digital Economy On Urban Green Development From The Perspective Of Innovation Driven

The 14 th Five-Year Plan period is the carbon emission peak window period for China.Future development requires not only both green and digital,but also the integration of green and digital.Under the background of environmental resource constraints increasingly prominent and a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation,the digital economy has become a new productive force and continuously integrates with economic,social and ecological fields.The digital economy plays an important role in the transformation of production and governance mode and the distribution of resources.It is an important support for promoting green and low-carbon urban transformation and development.The optimization and upgrading of green development combines three dimensions: advanced of green development level,efficient of green development efficiency and rationalization of green development coordinated.In other words,under specific ecological economic and social development goals,the green development level is enhanced,green development efficiency is improved,and green development coordination among different regions and domain is optimized,so as to realize the development process of green development from low level to high level.This thesis holds that digital economy includes three levels: macro digitization level,medium digital industry and micro data elements.Digital economy plays different roles in different aspects to promote optimization and upgrading of green development,and finally promotes high-quality development of Chinese economy.Urban is the main carrier of local economy.Under the trend of information technology development and the general trend of green and low-carbon development,the release of promotion power of digital economy on the urban green development is a key way to build the economy into a cyber power and green and low-carbon one for China.The digital economy mainly promotes the optimization and upgrading of urban green development through three ways.Firstly,the digitalization level improves the technology innovation and promotes the integration of digital economy and urban green development.Thus the transformation of traditional development mode and the germination of green high-tech development mode is facilitated,and the improvement of urban green development level is realized.Secondly,from the perspective of innovation cluster driving,the digital industry promotes the coordinated competition of urban green development.By optimizing resource distribution characteristics,transforming the talent structure,influencing foreign trade,improving institutions,and other means,regional competition is coordinated,and the structure between ecological,economic,and social aspects gradually becomes rational,thereby achieving green and coordinated development.Thirdly,through the efficient flow of data elements,data is integrated into various aspects of urban green development,facilitating the rational allocation of innovative elements and the improvement of innovation efficiency.This drives the interaction between the digital economy and urban green development,leading to efficient urban green development.Only by deeply understanding the interactive relationship between the digital economy and the optimization and upgrading of urban green development can we analyze in detail the paths through which the digital economy drives the upgrading of urban green and low-carbon development,optimize the structure of urban green development,and make it increasingly adapted to the characteristics of China’s economic development.Based on the above three research themes,this paper analyzes the mediating effects and spatiotemporal non-linear effects of the digital economy driving the optimization and upgrading of urban green development from the perspective of innovation-driven theory and the intermediary and spatiotemporal non-linear theories of the digital economy’s impact on urban green development.Innovation-driven is divided into three forms: innovation capability,innovation clusters,and innovation efficiency,while the digital economy is divided into three levels: macro-digitization,medium-digitization industry,and micro-data elements.Simultaneously,green development optimization and upgrading are divided into three dimensions: the advanced level of green development,the rational development of green coordination,and the efficient development of green efficiency.Furthermore,policy recommendations are put forward for driving the optimization and upgrading of urban green development in China through the digital economy.Finally,corresponding conclusions are drawn.Specifically,this paper has conducted the following main research work.Firstly,at the urban level,a dynamic measurement model based on DPSIR-’vertical and horizonta’ tension is constructed to dynamically measure the green development level and digitization level of 288 cities in China from 2011 to 2019.Exploratory spatial data analysis(ESDA),spatiotemporal evolution,and spatial standard ellipses are comprehensively used to analyze the spatiotemporal uneven characteristics of urban green development and digitization levels.Based on the analysis of system dynamics and relevant theories,research hypotheses are proposed.By employing a two-way fixed effects model,the impact of digitization level on urban green development level is explored.Micro-level data of green patent authorizations are manually compiled based on the green patent catalog formulated by the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO)to depict the green innovation capabilities of cities.The mediating mechanism of green innovation capabilities as an intermediate variable in the transmission of digitization level’s impact on urban green development level is revealed using a mediation effects model.A nonlinear threshold panel model is used to further explore the nonlinearity and constraints of the digitization level’s impact on urban green development level from the perspectives of green innovation and the digital economy.The differences in the impact of the digital economy on urban green development level under different threshold constraints are analyzed,and the ’Metcalf’s Law’is examined.The spatial dependence of the digitization level’s impact on urban green development level is explored using the spatial Dubin model,with the construction of the spatial weight matrix for green innovation capabilities.Furthermore,the heterogeneity selection model is employed to analyze the regional differences in the digitization level’s impact on urban green development level.Secondly,the concept of coordinated development of green regions and sectors is proposed.Data on green development considering carbon emissions in counties and sectors of280 cities from 2011 to 2019 are selected.The degree of green coordinated development at the city level is quantified through standard deviation and coordination degree models.The digital industry is divided into digital industrialization and industrial digitization.Exploratory spatial data analysis(ESDA),spatiotemporal evolution,and three-dimensional kernel density convergence analysis are used to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of green coordinated development and digital industries in different cities.Based on the theory of coevolution of internal and external driving forces,an STIRPAT model is constructed,which includes internal driving factors such as human resources,technology,and wealth resources,and external driving factors such as fiscal decentralization,degree of openness,and rationalization of industrial structure.The impacts of digital industrialization and industrial digitization on the coordinated development of green regions and sectors in cities are explored.The mediating mechanism of innovative clusters as intermediate variables in the transmission of the impact of digital industries on the coordinated development of urban green is investigated using a mediation effects model.The spatial weight matrix for green innovation clusters is constructed,and the spatial dependence of the digital industries’ impact on the coordinated development of urban green is explored using spatial dynamic panel autoregressive models.Thirdly,at the urban level,a green development efficiency input-output system considering undesirable outputs such as carbon emissions is constructed.Based on the division of data elements into demand and supply factors,panel data from 287 cities in China from 2012 to 2019 are used to measure and analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of green development efficiency and data demand and supply factors using SBM-DDF,spatiotemporal evolution,cloud model clustering,and three-dimensional kernel density convergence analysis.Based on general equilibrium and related theoretical analysis,research hypotheses are proposed.By employing a fixed effects panel model,the impact of data elements on urban green development efficiency is explored.Attention is given to the matching effect of data elements in promoting the rational allocation of innovation factors and improving the matching efficiency between urban green innovation efficiency and green development efficiency,and the ’New Kaldor Facts’ are examined.The mediating mechanism of green innovation efficiency as an intermediate variable in the transmission of the impact of data demand and supply factors on urban green development efficiency is investigated using a mediation effects model.The heterogeneity selection model is constructed to analyze the regional differences in the impact of data elements on urban green development efficiency.The spatial weight matrix for green innovation efficiency is constructed,and the spatial dependence of data elements’ impact on urban green development efficiency is explored using spatial autoregressive models.Finally,the following specific conclusions are drawn.Firstly,digitization level significantly promotes urban green development level,and this conclusion still holds after conducting robustness tests such as using historical data as instrumental variables.Stimulating green innovation capabilities is an important transmission pathway for digitization level to unleash the dividends of urban green development level.Digitization level,green innovation,and human capital serve as the link between the digitization level system and the green development level system.The positive impact of the digital economy on urban green development level exhibits a non-linear increasing ’marginal effect’ characteristic,confirming ’Metcalf’s Law.’ The enhancement of green innovation capabilities and innovative human capital can strengthen the promoting effect of the digital economy.Under the spatial weight of green innovation efficiency,the positive impact of digitization level on urban green development level exhibits significant spatial spillover effects.The spillover effect of digitization level driving green development level will enhance the spillover effect on the local green development level and promote the improvement of green development level in other regions.There are regional differences in the positive impact of digitization level on urban green development level,with a more pronounced promoting effect in the eastern region,’broadband’ pilot areas,and large cities.Secondly,digitization and digital industrialization significantly promote the coordinated development of urban green regions and sectors.Internal driving factors such as human resources,technological innovation strategies,and financial resources are the driving force behind the symbiotic evolution system of digital industries driving green coordinated development.External driving factors such as government support,market openness,and industrial adjustment act as the propelling force of the system.The interaction between these factors maintains the dynamic balance of the system.Stimulating green innovation clusters is an important transmission pathway for digital industrialization and digital transformation to promote the coordinated development of urban green regions and sectors.This conclusion still holds after conducting robustness tests using instrumental variables.Under the spatial weight of green innovation clusters,digitization and digital industrialization have significant spatial and dynamic spillover effects on the coordinated development of urban green regions and sectors.The spillover effect of digitization and digital industrialization driving green development efficiency will enhance the spillover effect on the coordinated development of local green regions and sectors,promoting the improvement of green development in other areas.Thirdly,data demand and supply factors significantly promote urban green development efficiency.These factors facilitate the rational allocation of innovation elements by reducing transaction costs and improving circulation efficiency,thereby enhancing urban green innovation efficiency and green development efficiency.This confirms the ’New Kaldor Facts.’ Stimulating green innovation efficiency is an important transmission pathway for data demand and supply factors to promote the improvement of urban green development efficiency.This conclusion still holds after conducting robustness tests using instrumental variables.There are regional differences in the positive impact of data demand and supply factors on urban green development efficiency,with more significant promoting effects in the eastern region,’broadband’ pilot areas,and large cities.Under the spatial weight of green innovation efficiency,data demand and supply factors have significant spatial spillover effects on urban green development efficiency.The spillover effect of these factors driving green development efficiency will enhance the spillover effect on the development efficiency of local green areas,promoting the improvement of green development efficiency in other regions.The spatial spillover effect is greater in the eastern region than in the central and western regions.Fourthly,policies focusing on the planning and construction of digital economic bases,the establishment of spatial networks for the digital economy,and the improvement of the digital economic environment can contribute to optimizing the urban digital economic environment.Coordinated regional development,optimization of the economic and social ecological structure for green development,and the effective combination of innovative government and market mechanisms help optimize and upgrade urban green development.Increased investment in digital economy talents,rational allocation of digital economic funds,and the cultivation of digital economic innovation mechanisms contribute to strengthening the mode of driving green development through the digital economy.The innovation of this article lies in several aspects.Firstly,it incorporates key indicators such as carbon emissions to construct a DPSIR-’Cross-Dimensional Pull-Apart’ dynamic evaluation model.It combines ESDA,spatiotemporal evolution,and spatial standard ellipses to dynamically measure and analyze the levels of urban green development and digitization.Green patent authorization data highlighting ’green’ aspects are manually organized.Various methods,including the mediation effect,nonlinear threshold,spatial Dubin model,and instrumental variable approach,are comprehensively used to analyze the impact mechanisms of digitization on green development under the influence of green innovation capacity,nonlinear constraint mechanisms,spatial spillover effects,and to test the ’Metcalfe’s Law’.Secondly,the study focuses on the coordinated development of green regions and sectors.Based on county-level data,it quantifies the coordinated development and expands the perspective of previous studies that only focused on the level or efficiency of green development.Coupling coordination degree,ESDA,and three-dimensional kernel density convergence methods are comprehensively used to scientifically calculate and analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban green coordinated development and digital industries.Models such as mediation effect,instrumental variable,and two-way fixed-effect SDPD model with modified QML estimation are employed to analyze the internal and external mechanisms and spatial dynamic effects of the influence of green innovation clusters on digital industries that emphasize ’green’ aspects.Lastly,incorporating indicators such as carbon emissions,the article comprehensively uses scientific calculations and spatiotemporal analysis methods such as SBM-DDF considering undesired outputs,cloud model clustering,and spatiotemporal evolution to analyze the efficiency of urban green development and the impact of data elements.With a focus on innovation elements’ mismatch,using data on digital investments by enterprises,models such as mediation effect,spatial heterogeneity model,and instrumental variable approach are comprehensively employed to analyze the push-pull mechanism and spatial heterogeneity spillover effects of data elements under the influence of green innovation efficiency emphasizing ‘green’ aspects and to test the ’New Kaldor Facts’.The study provides a more systematic exploration of the impact of the digital economy on urban green development from an innovation-driven perspective.