A Research On The Effects And Mechanisms Of Digital Economy On Carbon Emissions In China

Nowadays,the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals are major social propositions that China needs to achieve,and there is a close link between the growth of carbon emissions and economic development.The rapid development of the digital economy has led to a reduction in carbon emissions,which has become a major concern for all sectors of society,and researches on the relationship between the digital economy and carbon emissions have become a hot topic of academic research.The existing researches have been very extensive,but there are still some areas that need to be refined.First,the concept and connotation of the digital economy are not uniform,and the indicator systems used to measure digital economy level are distinctive and the results vary widely.Second,the sub-dimensions of the digital economy exist only as different dimensions in the measurement,but are not differentiated in the analysis of the mechanisms,which obliterates the distinctions and differences between the sub-dimensions.Last,the analysis of the paths of action is not sufficiently detailed and lacks a deeper level of breakdown and comparison.Therefore,the analysis and discussion of the above are of great academic value and practical significance for the improvement of China’s digital economy level and the reduction of carbon emission intensity,to achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and green development.This thesis focuses on the effects and mechanisms of the digital economy on carbon emissions in China.(1)The concepts of digital economy and carbon emissions are clearly defined,and the current status of research between the two variables and their relationship are sorted out,and the mechanisms of the relationship are identified and explained.(2)Based on eight years of statistical panel data from 30 provinces(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,Taiwan and Tibet)from 2012 to 2019,measurement systems for the level of digital economy and carbon emission intensity are established,and based on measuring the development level of these,their dynamic evolution characteristics of time series are further analysed.(3)The linear and nonlinear relationships between the digital economy and carbon emissions are comprehensively discussed,and the issues of endogeneity,robustness and heterogeneity are examined and analysed.(4)The three pathways through which the digital economy affects carbon emissions are discussed in turn,and a comparative analysis of the differences in the pathways between the two sub-dimensions of the digital economy is presented.(5)The thesis concludes with a review of the research findings,a summary of the conclusions,and practical policy recommendations for improving the digital economy and reducing carbon emissions are made.The main conclusions are as follows.(1)On the whole,the development of the digital economy in all provinces shows a fluctuating increase,while the carbon emission intensity shows a year-on-year decrease,but the differences between regions and provinces are still very obvious.In terms of the digital economy,the eastern regions have the highest level of development,while the central and western regions fall behind the national average,and the eastern,central and western regions show a clear ladder-like development trend.The dynamic evolution characteristics of time series show that the differences in the level of the digital economy are still significant within the regions,and this difference is most evident in the central regions.In terms of carbon emissions,the eastern regions have the lowest carbon emissions intensity,while the central and western regions are both above the national average.In terms of overall differences,although there are no major ups and downs or changes in carbon emission intensity across the country,there is a trend of polarisation in carbon emission intensity during the study period,which becomes more serious after 2016,but the overall polarisation has not yet been formed.The dynamic evolution characteristics of time series show that the western regions have the most drastic changes in carbon emission intensity,while the other regions have relatively smooth changes.(2)The empirical analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction effects of the digital economy are significant,and the sub-dimensions of the digital economy-digital industrialization and industrial digitalization-also have significant carbon emission reduction effects.The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the effects of the digital economy on carbon emission reduction are not significant in the central regions,but significant in the eastern and western regions,and the carbon emission reduction effects are significant in both high and low digital economy regions,but the effects are stronger in low digital economy regions.In the exploration of the non-linear relationship,the quadratic term relationship between the two variables is not significant,but the threshold effect is significantly present,there is a single threshold effect,the threshold value is about 0.7553,only when the development of the digital economy level beyond the threshold value,the carbon emission reduction effects can be captured from the data.(3)The carbon emission reduction effects of the digital economy can be achieved through three paths: industrial structure,financial services and technological innovation,but there are differences in their effects in the sub-dimensions of the digital economy.The digital economy can significantly contribute to carbon emission reduction through industrial structure upgrading and optimization,but in the sub-dimension,the increase in the level of digital industrialization mainly increases the output value and proportion of the tertiary industry,which promotes industrial structure upgrading and thus achieves carbon emission reduction.While for industrial digitalization,mainly promotes the flow and optimal allocation of factors within the industry,which improves the production efficiency of the industry and ultimately achieves carbon emission reduction.The analysis of financial services and technological innovations also supports the conclusion that the digital economy has carbon emission reduction effects,but there is no significant difference in the paths of action between the two sub-dimensions.This thesis has the following innovations.(1)Innovations in the research perspective.This research takes into account the differences between the two sub-dimensions of the digital economy,not only noting their effects on carbon emission reduction,but also conducting a comparative study of the differences in the mechanisms of their action,which is a deepening and expansion of the research in this area.(2)Innovations in the research content.This research refines the deeper division of industrial structure,clarifies the similarities and differences between industrial structure upgrading and optimisation,and compares the differences between the two sub-dimensions of the digital economy in terms of their effects,which is a deeper refinement and detailed discussion of this research contents and enriches the theoretical results.(3)Innovations in the research methods.In this study,the entropy weight method is used to reduce the dimensionality,and the Non-parametric kernel density estimation method is used to estimate the kernel density,while mixed regression,double fixed effects model,instrumental variables,group regression,quadratic term model and threshold effects are used to discuss the linear and non-linear relationship between the digital economy and carbon emissions,and the mediating effects model is used to conduct a comparative analysis of the mechanisms of action,which enhances the mathematical and theoretical basis of the thesis as well as the persuasive power.