Research On The Impact Of The Digital Economy Development Level Of Countries Along The "Belt And Road" On China’s OFDI

In today’s information age,the development of the digital economy has had a wide-ranging and far-reaching impact on the economy and society,and has also become an important factor affecting international direct investment.In my country’s foreign direct investment,high-quality,mutually beneficial and win-win investment cooperation between my country and countries along the "Belt and Road" has always been the focus of my country’s work.At the same time,the proposal of the "Digital Silk Road" has also accelerated the construction of digital infrastructure and the development of digital economy in countries along the route.Then we want to explore the impact of the digital economy development of countries along the "Belt and Road" on China’s OFDI and the channels of its role.In the specific research,this paper firstly sorts out the literature on the digital economy,foreign direct investment and the impact of the digital economy on international direct investment,summarizes the shortcomings of the existing literature,and introduces the research theme and research goals of this paper.Secondly,a total of 21 indicators were selected from the four dimensions of digital infrastructure guarantee,government supervision and innovation environment,international competitiveness of digital technology,and the degree of application of digital technology to build a digital economy development level measurement index system.The development level of the digital economy is measured,and the characteristics and facts of China’s direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road are analyzed from the regional and industry levels.Thirdly,it explores the mechanism by which the development of the digital economy of the host country affects the OFDI of the home country,and explains that the development of the digital economy attracts the inflow of transnational capital by enhancing a country’s entrepreneurial activity,human capital level,financial development level and information transparency,and this serves as the theoretical basis for the mechanism test in this paper.In the empirical analysis,an econometric model was established using the panel data of 50 countries along the route from 2007 to 2016,and the impact of the development of the digital economy in the countries along the route on the scale of China’s OFDI and the channels of its role were explored,and the robustness test,heterogeneity test and mechanism test were carried out.Finally,according to the results of the empirical analysis,the research conclusions are summarized,and suggestions on how the countries along the route can improve the development level of the digital economy and promote the high-quality development of China’s OFDI are put forward.The research conclusions drawn by this paper through empirical analysis are as follows:First,the development of the digital economy in countries along the Belt and Road has significantly promoted the inflow of China’s OFDI,and this result is still robust after a series of tests such as replacing core variables and removing extreme values.Second,the results of the heterogeneity test show that in terms of income level,compared with high-income and low-middle-income countries,the development of digital economy in middle and high income countries has a greater and more significant role in promoting China’s OFDI.In terms of regional distribution,the stimulating effect of digital economy development in Europe on China’s OFDI is significantly greater than that in Asia and Africa,and the regression coefficient of digital economy variables in Europe is also larger than the regression coefficient value of digital economy variables in the full sample.In terms of trust in investment cooperation,the development of digital economy in countries along the route with high trust in investment cooperation with China has significantly increased the scale of China’s OFDI,while the development of digital economy in countries along the route with low trust in investment cooperation with China has no significant effect on China’s OFDI.Third,from the perspective of mechanism inspection,the development of digital economy in countries along the route has indeed improved the country’s entrepreneurial activity,human capital level,financial development level and information transparency,thus promoting the inflow of China’s OFDI.