Research On The Impact Of The Digital Economy On The Green Development Of China’s Manufacturing Industry

Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China,and particularly after the reform and opening-up,the manufacturing industry in China has undergone rapid development;however,the high energy consumption and high pollution production mode have proven to be a barrier to the sustainable development of China’s economy and society.With China’s economic development stepping into the new normal and the construction of ecological civilization strengthening,it is imperative to promote the green development of the manufacturing industry.Although China has taken some measures to promote the green development of the manufacturing industry and has achieved some results,it is not yet sufficiently evident.The digital economy has injected new impetus into the development of China’s economy and provided a new path for the manufacturing industry to achieve green development.However,the effect and mechanism of the impact of the digital economy on the green development of the manufacturing industry are not yet known.Therefore,it is of great significance to accurately measure the level of China’s digital economy and the green development of its manufacturing industry and to explore the relationship between them and the mechanisms of action to promote the sustainable development of China.Based on Schumpeterian innovation theory,industrial integration theory,industrial intelligence theory,and sustainable development theory,this thesis empirically examines the effect of the digital economy on the green development of China’s manufacturing industry.Firstly,the entropy value method as well as the Super-SBM model including non-expected output and the Malmquist-Luenberger index method are used to measure and analyze the digital economy and the green development of the manufacturing industry in 30 provinces(cities and autonomous regions)in China from 2011 to 2020,respectively.Secondly,the impact of the digital economy on the green development of China’s manufacturing industry is empirically analyzed using benchmark regression,heterogeneity analysis,a robustness test,and panel quantile regression.Finally,the mechanism of the impact of the digital economy on the green development of the manufacturing industry is analyzed from the dual perspective of marketization effect and green technology innovation effect.The following conclusions have been obtained: Firstly,China’s digital economy has developed faster during 2011–2020,but the difference in digital economy development among regions has gradually widened.Secondly,the average annual growth rate of the ML index of green development of China’s manufacturing industry is 6.42% from 2011 to 2020,and the level of green development of China’s manufacturing industry has improved during this period,while green technological progress is the main reason for the improvement of China’s manufacturing industry.Thirdly,the digital economy has significantly promoted the green development of China’s manufacturing industry during the sample period,and for every 1 unit increase in the digital economy,the green development of China’s manufacturing industry will increase by0.367 units.After replacing the time sample,lagging one period,and 2SLS for robustness testing,the results remain significant,and the regional heterogeneity analysis finds that the digital economy significantly promotes the green development of manufacturing in the eastern region and plays a non-significant inhibitory effect on the green development of manufacturing in the western region.Fourthly,the panel quantile regression analysis finds that there are structural differences in the impact of the digital economy on the green development of manufacturing in China.Fifthly,the marketization effect and the green technology innovation effect are the important mechanisms of the digital economy’s influence on the green development of China’s manufacturing industry,and the improvement of the marketization level and the green technology innovation level will further exert the positive influence of the digital economy on the green development of China’s manufacturing industry.Based on the current situation of China’s digital economy and green development of manufacturing industry and related empirical results,the article finally puts forward some countermeasure suggestions,such as optimizing the digital development environment and improving the level of digital economy development;improving the efficiency of digital resource allocation;and narrowing the gap of regional digital economy development;strengthening digital construction to boost the green development of manufacturing industry;promoting the marketization construction and giving full play to the marketization effect;and encouraging green technology innovation to stimulate the innovation effect.It is hoped that the research in this thesis can better play the role of the digital economy in the green development of the manufacturing industry so as to promote the healthy development of the digital economy and the manufacturing industry in China.