Research On The Impact Of Internet Development On The Ecological Efficiency Of Chinese Citie

In recent years,the new technological revolution with the new generation of information technology as the core is unfolding globally,and the use of Internet technology to help“carbon peak” and “carbon neutral” and improve regional ecological efficiency is an important strategic initiative to promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development in the new era.As a new engine of economic development under the new normal,the Internet is of great significance in promoting the optimal allocation of resources and achieving sustainable economic and social development.In this context,how to accurately identify the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban Internet development and eco-efficiency in China and how to realize the coordinated development of economy and environment with the help of advanced technology has become a hot issue nowadays.The research on the relationship between them could also provide a scientific basis for using information technology to enhance urban eco-efficiency and improve environmental quality.Hence,based on the relevant literature,this paper develops a systematic evaluation index system to measure the level of Internet development and eco-efficiency in Chinese cities by using the global entropy method and the slacks-based measure(SBM)of super-efficiency,respectively.The results show that,first,Internet development in Chinese cities is evolving from low and medium-low levels to medium-high and high levels,and its development shows obvious“coastal-inland”spatial distribution characteristics with high economic dependence.Second,the average eco-efficiency of cities in the study period shows a rising trend with some fluctuations and varies greatly among regions.The eco-efficiency level of cities in the eastern region is remarkably higher than that of other regions,showing an overall trend of“eastern region > western region > northeastern region > central region.” Third,the spatial and temporal pattern of urban eco-efficiency in China has obvious evolutionary features.The eco-efficiency of Chinese cities shows a spatial development pattern of “high in the east and west and depressed in the middle” at the present stage.The high-level regions have the distinctive characteristics of high economic development(the eastern region)or minor environmental pollution(the western region).Moreover,the paper proposes that the direct impact of Internet development on eco-efficiency is reflected in the reduction of resource consumption,such as water,land and energy,and the reduction of pollution,such as wastewater,exhaust gas and carbon dioxide,while the indirect transmission mechanism occurs through three major aspects: industrial structure advancement,rationalization and innovation capacity.Based on the theoretical analysis of the relationship between the two,an empirical test is conducted using data from285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005-2019 as a sample.The results of the ordinary panel model show that Internet development can promote urban eco-efficiency with or without the inclusion of control variables,and this result remains strongly robust after the exclusion of sample cities,the replacement of core explanatory variables,and the consideration of endogeneity.The heterogeneity analysis shows significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of Internet development on urban eco-efficiency: the promoting effect of Internet development on eco-efficiency is stronger in the western region than in the eastern,western and northeastern regions.Meanwhile,the effect of Internet development on non-capital cities,less economically developed cities,regions with less developed Internet infrastructure and non-resource cities is more obvious.These results of the influence mechanism test corroborate that the transmission mechanism of the Internet on urban eco-efficiency occurs through industrial structure rationalization,advancement and innovation capability.Furthermore,the mechanism analysis from the spatial perspective indicates that Internet development also has a spatial network effect,spatial spillover effect,and spatial competition and cooperation effect on urban eco-efficiency.During the study period,Internet development in Chinese cities is positively spatial correlated with the cities’ eco-efficiency.In terms of the level of Internet development,the high-high clusters have always been distributed in economically developed cities such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.And,for the level of eco-efficiency,the high-high regions are concentrated in the southeast coastal region and western cities.Given this,the paper builds a spatial econometric model,and the results indicate that the Chinese city ’ s urban eco-efficiency has an obvious spatial spillover effect.Internet development can promote eco-efficiency not only in the local area but also in neighboring cities.This result remains strongly robust after using different spatial weight matrices and spatial econometric models.Additionally,the heterogeneity analysis shows that,regionally speaking,Internet development has a positive promoting effect on eco-efficiency in the eastern and western regions.Finally,the theoretical mechanism of the policy perspective shows that the Internet policy,represented by “broadband China,” has a direct impact on eco-efficiency in terms of macro-environmental governance,meso-economic structure transformation,micro-enterprise production upgrading,and individual citizens ’ environmental awareness formation.It indirectly promotes urban eco-efficiency through three aspects: increasing the Internet penetration rate,promoting industrial structure upgrading,and enhancing technological innovation.A quasi-natural experiment of “Broadband China” is used to test the policy effects by using a multi-period difference-in-difference method,and the results show that the“ Broadband China ” pilot policy significantly improves urban eco-efficiency,and this conclusion still holds after changing estimation methods,excluding key city samples,replacing core explanatory variables and introducing instrumental variables.Next,the impact of the “broadband China” pilot policy on eco-efficiency is significantly heterogeneous:Internet development can significantly promote urban eco-efficiency in the eastern and central regions,more economically developed cities,and non-resource-dependent cities;however,this impact is not obvious in the western region,less economically developed and resource-dependent cities.This analysis of the influencing mechanism proves that the“broadband China” pilot policy can improve urban eco-efficiency by increasing cities’ Internet penetration rate,enhancing technological innovation capability and upgrading industrial structure.In addition,the spatial difference-in-difference model results show that the “Broadband China” pilot policy has a positive spillover effect on urban eco-efficiency,which would drive the improvement of eco-efficiency in the surrounding areas.The above findings provide empirical evidence for the economic impact of implementing the “Internet Plus” plan in China.They also provide practical pathways to achieving energy conservation and emission reduction,inter-regional environmental synergy,and high-quality economic growth.Based on this,the paper proposes corresponding recommendations.First,China should further implement the Internet development strategy and advance the construction of digital facilities.This will strengthen the spillover effects of network infrastructure and unleash the dividends of Internet development.Next,regions should design their Internet policies according to their local conditions,resource endowments and economic development levels,give full play to key cities’ radiating and leading role and promote synergy development of eco-efficiency among regions.For less developed regions,it is crucial to increase support for technological innovation,which would help these cities exploit the latecomer advantages and enable them to catch up with more eco-efficient ones.Finally,it is also vital to explore,from multiple perspectives,how the Internet promotes eco-efficiency,thus achieving coordinated development of the ecosystem and economy.