Research On The Impact Of Digital Economy On High Quality Economic Development

High quality development is an issue that China has been continuously exploring about the mode of economic development since the report of the 19 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China had been proposed.After more than 40 years of rapid development since the reform and opening up,high-quality development has gradually become the new guide for China’s economic development,and the pursuit of high-quality economic development has become a strategic development goal for China at this stage and even for a long time in the future.At the same time,as a new form of economy,the digital economy is becoming more and more closely linked to all aspects of economic development and is deeply integrated with the real economy.2015 marked the launch of China’s "Internet+" initiative,which included the digital economy as a key area of national attention,and has since been mentioned several times in government work reports.Since then,it has been mentioned several times in government work reports.The digital economy is playing an irreplaceable role in transforming the way society produces,lives and governs.Based on the above background,this paper empirically investigates the impact effect of digital economy on economic quality development and its mechanism path,taking 30 Chinese provinces and cities(excluding Tibet and Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan)as samples from 2011 to 2020.The main research idea is to elaborate the relevant economic theories and summarize the relevant literature as a starting point to measure and evaluate the digital economy and the level of high-quality economic development,thus forming an important part of the basic research of this paper.Specifically,the digital economy index and the economic quality development index of each province and city are measured by constructing the digital economy and economic quality development evaluation index system respectively,and analyzing the provincial and regional difference patterns respectively.On this basis,the possible ways of empowerment of both are analyzed,and corresponding research hypotheses are proposed accordingly.Based on the theoretical and hypothetical premises,a dynamic panel model is constructed to empirically study the effect of digital economy on high-quality economic development,while the level of science and technology innovation and financial development are included in the mediating effect model to analyze their potential mechanism paths,and a series of robustness tests and heterogeneity tests are conducted.The findings show that(1)from 2011 to 2020,China’s digital economy and the level of high-quality economic development show an increasing trend year by year,but with significant differences between provinces and cities and between regions.(2)The digital economy can significantly contribute to high-quality economic development,and this conclusion still holds after considering endogeneity,econometric model selection,and outlier issues.(3)The mediating effect indicates that the digital economy can indirectly enable high-quality economic development through technological innovation and improved financial development.(4)In the heterogeneity analysis,the promotion effect of digital economy on high-quality economic development shows a decreasing trend in the eastern,central and western regions;meanwhile,the promotion effect in the interval of 2015-2020 is significantly higher than that in the period of 2011-2015.Combined with the above findings,this paper puts forward policy recommendations from four aspects:(1)vigorously develop the digital economy to promote high-quality economic development.(2)Implement differential development strategies to reduce the level of regional differences.(3)Improve the digital innovation mechanism and raise the level of technological innovation.(4)Paying attention to the cultivation of digital talents and improving the mechanism of introducing talents,thus providing a basis for further reducing the differences in regional levels and guiding the digital economy to better empower the high-quality economic development.