Research On The Effect Of The Digital Economy On The Green Transformation Of Cities In The Yangtze River Economic Belt

Amidst the escalating effects of global climate change and environmental pollution,countries are now making green development a strategic choice.The 20 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,in its report,has reiterated the strategic goal of building an ecological civilization,requiring a comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society to achieve a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.In this context,regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt have adopted the principle of "jointly promoting large-scale protection and refraining from large-scale development," and are continuously pushing for urban green transformation.The rapid advancement of the digital economy is providing robust technological support,creating new business models,shaping new values,promoting the digitization and green transformation of traditional industries in the Yangtze River Economic Belt,cultivating new green industries,and meeting the growing needs of people for a better life.Consequently,investigating the impact of the digital economy on the urban green transformation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is significant in promoting China’s comprehensive green transformation of its economy and society,and achieving high-quality development.This thesis is guided by theoretical analysis on the impact of the digital economy on urban green transformation and focuses on the historical mission of promoting comprehensive green transformation.By incorporating current domestic and international research status,we examine the effect of the digital economy on urban green transformation.Using panel data from 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt between 2011 and 2020,we measure the development level of the digital economy in cities using the coefficient of variation method and analyze the distribution pattern of the digital economy’s development level across cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt using the Kernel density estimation method.To measure the level of urban green transformation,we use the SBM-DDF method that considers non-expected output and analyze its evolution characteristics.We employ the baseline regression model to analyze the direct impact of the digital economy on urban green transformation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt,testing the moderating role of innovation capacity in the process of digital economy-driven urban green transformation.The threshold regression model is applied to analyze the nonlinear effect of the digital economy on urban green transformation,while the spatial regression model is constructed to investigate the spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on urban green transformation.The research results show that:(1)the development level of digital economy in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is good,showing an overall trend of first rising,then slowly declining,and then rapidly rising again.The distribution pattern of digital economy level in the Yangtze River Delta,upstream of the Yangtze River,and middle reaches of the Yangtze River decreases sequentially,and there are absolute differences in the development of digital economy.(2)The overall trend of urban green transformation level in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is first declining and then rising.In terms of regions,the Yangtze River Delta has the highest level,while the midstream region is catching up,and the upstream region has a "U" shape but lags behind other regions during the sample period.There are significant differences in the green transformation of cities in various regions,but there is a downward trend.(3)Digital economy has a positive promoting effect on urban green transformation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt,which still holds after a series of robustness tests.The effect of digital economy on urban green transformation varies by region and policy intensity.(4)Innovation capability plays a positive regulatory role in promoting urban green transformation through digital economy.With the improvement of industrial structure and human capital,the promoting effect of digital economy on urban green transformation has a nonlinear feature of increasing marginal utility.(5)Based on the perspective of "local-neighborhood" effect,it is found that digital economy not only effectively promotes the development of local urban green transformation but also has a positive spillover effect on the green transformation level of neighboring cities.Therefore,the Yangtze River Economic Belt region should focus on strengthening digital infrastructure construction,enhancing innovation capability,developing emerging industries,promoting industrial structure optimization,increasing investment in education,and other aspects to accelerate the process of digital economy promoting urban green transformation.