Research On The Impact Of Digital Economy On Pollution And Carbon Reduction In Chinese Cities

At present,the synergistic governance of pollution reduction and carbon reduction is a critical way and a significant grip to promote the construction of ecological civilization in China,Digital economy is a newly developed model and a newly developed driving power for high-quality economic development,exploring the development characteristics of the urban digital economy and pollution and carbon reduction,and explaining the mechanism of the role of the digital economy on pollution and carbon reduction,which is conducive to adequately releasing the pollution and carbon reduction effect of the digital economy.Firstly,this paper uses the entropy method to measure the combined level of the digital economy and pollution and carbon reduction in 282 cities in China from 2011 to2019 and summarizes their spatial and temporal characteristics.Then,we apply the stationary effect model and the mediation effect model to test the influence mechanism of the digital economy on pollution and carbon reduction in Chinese cities empirically.Finally,the heterogeneous effects of the digital economy on pollution and carbon reduction are examined from the perspectives of region,city size,and economic development stage.The main findings are as follows:(1)During the period of study,the level of digital economy development in Chinese cities showed an overall increasing tendency,and the evaluation index of pollution and carbon reduction showed a decreasing tendency.From regional differences,the average values of the digital economy and carbon reduction in eastern cities are the highest,but the rates of variation are not as high as those in the central and western regions.From the perspective of city scale differences,the average value of pollution and carbon reduction is the largest among mega-cities,while its rate of decline is the largest among large cities.From the economic development stage,the mean value of the digital economy is higher in cities in the urbanization stage,but the growth rate is higher in cities in the industrialization stage.(2)The digital economy can effectively promote the process of reducing pollution and carbon in Chinese cities.After robustness tests using replacement regression models,replacing core explanatory variables and excluding municipalities directly under the central government and sub-provincial cities,and examining the endogeneity issue using exogenous shock tests,the conclusion still holds.(3)Not only can the digital economy promote the process of pollution and carbon reduction in Chinese cities through the enhancement of green technological innovation and upgrading of industrial structure,but it can also contribute to pollution and carbon reduction through the chain intermediary channel of "green technological innovation-upgrading of industrial structure",with two independent intermediaries and one chain intermediary.(4)The implications of the digital economy on pollution and carbon reduction are heterogeneous.From regional differences,the regression coefficients of the digital economy in central cities are more than that in eastern and western regions.From the perspective of city scale differences,the pollution and carbon reduction effect of the digital economy in mega-cities is the most obvious,next to large cities,and not significant in small and medium-sized cities.From the perspective of the economic development stage,the regression coefficients of the digital economy in cities in the industrialization stage are larger than those in the urbanization stage.Based on the findings of this paper,the following policy suggestions are put forward:(1)Promote the development of the digital economy comprehensively to help the advancement of the process of pollution and carbon reduction.(2)Facilitate the coordinated development of green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading to form a sustainable mechanism for reducing pollution and carbon.(3)Conduct regional classification guidance to maximize regional pollution and carbon reduction.Figure[4] table[24] reference[117]...