Measurement Of China’s Digital Economy Development Level And Analysis Of Its Impact On Carbon Emissions

In recent years,thanks to the continuous improvement of China’s communication infrastructure and the vigorous development and application of various digital technologies,the level of digital economy has made significant progress and has become one of the important engines driving the country’s economic and social development.However,accompanying the steady increase of the digital economy level,environmental and climate issues caused by excessive carbon emissions have emerged as a key factor constraining sustainable development.Therefore,how digital economy development affects the environment,whether it inhibits or promotes carbon emissions growth,and through what mechanisms it influences carbon emissions,are crucial questions.As an obvious externality problem,does the digital economy have spatial spillover effects on environmental issues? Against the backdrop of severe international environmental problems and escalating climate issues,the answers to these questions play a crucial role in effectively utilizing the development of the digital economy to alleviate environmental issues and respond to climate change,and realize sustainable economic and social development.This article first constructs a measurement index system for the development level of the digital economy from four dimensions: digital economic foundation,digital industrialization,industrial digitalization,and digital economic popularity.The entropy weighting method is used to construct a comprehensive evaluation model to calculate the digital economic development index of each province in China.Then,the temporal and spatial evolution trends and regional development differences of the digital economy development level are discussed.Finally,the fixed-effects model,mediation effects model,and spatial econometric model are used to empirically analyze the benchmark effect,influence mechanism,and spatial spillover effect of digital economic development on carbon emissions.The research results show that: firstly,the digital economy level of each province in China has grown to varying degrees,and the eastern coastal provinces have a higher level of digital economic development.Secondly,the overall level of differences in digital economy development in China has decreased,while the internal differences within the three major regions of the eastern,central,and western regions have increased,but the degree of differences between regions has decreased.Thirdly,the development of the digital economy has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions,and the carbon emission reduction effect is the best in the western region,followed by the central region,and the weakest in the eastern region.Fourthly,the digital economy has inhibited the growth of carbon emissions through two mechanisms: innovation effect and industrial structure upgrading effect.Fifthly,the digital economy exhibits a significant spatial spillover effect on carbon emissions,and there is also regional heterogeneity in the spatial spillover effect.