Study On The Impact Of Digital Infrastructure On The Coordinated Development Of Environment-economy-society In The Upper Reaches Of The Yangtze River

Since the reform and opening up and with rapid economic and social development of our country,the regional economic spatial structure has undergone profound changes,and the ecological environment is facing increasing risks and challenges.This has led to the increasingly acute conflict between regional economy and society on the one hand and ecological environment on the other.The coordinated development of regional "environment-economy-society" has been in a state of imbalance and incoordination for a long time.However,economic and social development should not be based on the exploitation of ecological environment,and ecological environmental protection should not be limited to the furtherance of economic and social development.In the report of the 20 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "It is necessary to firmly establish and practice the concept of lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,and planned development based on harmonious coexistence between man and nature." This provides a firm direction for the construction of ecological civilization with ecological priority and green development in the new era,and also provides practical guidance for the coordinated regional development of environment,economy and society.Meanwhile,as the world economy is transforming from an industrial economy to a digital economy,the comprehensive popularization and in-depth development of digital infrastructure is gradually becoming a key factor for enabling high-quality economic and social development,promoting green development of the ecological environment,and realizing harmonious coexistence between man and nature.It has created unprecedented development opportunities for the coordinated development of the economy,society and the ecological environment.Therefore,under the background of the rapid development of digital economy,it is of great significance to explore the influencing mechanism of digital infrastructure on the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in order to advance the coordinated development of environment,economy and society,and to achieve the dual practice of "ecological civilization" and "high-quality economic development" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.This thesis summarizes and explains the relevant theoretical basis and research results,and clarifies the concept connotation and research content of the digital infrastructure and the coordinated development of "environment-society-economy".Based on the panel data of 33 prefecture-level cities in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River region from 2008 to 2020,this thesis constructs an evaluation index system for the digital infrastructure and the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River region,and evaluates the development status of the digital infrastructure and the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in that region.Moreover,this thesis takes the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society"(ESS)as the explained variable,the digital infrastructure(DI)as the explanatory variable,and selects the industrial structure(STR),the government intervention(GOV),the foreign investment(FDI),the human capital(HC)and the energy consumption(EC)as the control variables.At the same time,this thesis takes the green technology innovation(GTI),the factor marketization(FAM)and the financial development level(FIN)as the intermediary variables.On this basis,this thesis analyzes the direct,indirect and spatial effects of digital infrastructure on the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River,and draws the following conclusions:(1)From the longitudinal perspective,the scale of digital infrastructure capital stock in the four provinces(municipalities)in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River was consistent with the overall trend from 2008 to 2020,showing an upward trend year by year.Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality were in a leading position in digital infrastructure capital stock.From 2008 to 2020,the trend of the coordinated development level of "environment-economy-society" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the four provinces(municipalities)remained consistent,with a steady and fast "S" shaped growth trend,and the trend was Chongqing Municipality >Sichuan Province > Guizhou Province > Yunnan Province.(2)From the spatial perspective,there were obvious regional differences and imbalances in digital infrastructure construction in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River from 2008 to 2020,but the overall construction level showed an increasing trend year by year.Among them,Chongqing City,Chengdu City,Guiyang City and Kunming City,as municipalities and provincial capital cities,have a high level of digital infrastructure construction compared with other prefecture level cities all the year round.From 2008 to 2020,the coordinated development type of "environment-economy-society" in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and most prefecture-level cities changed from the reluctant type of disordered recession stage to the primary type of coordinated development stage,and the spatial pattern of the coordinated development level of "environment-economy-society" gradually changed from an unbalanced state to a balanced state.In addition,provincial capital cities and prefecture-level cities with higher economic level had obvious driving effect.(3)In terms of direct effects,the regression coefficient of digital infrastructure is significantly positive at the confidence level of 1%,which preliminarily verifies that digital infrastructure in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River region has a significant role in promoting the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society",and the conclusion is still valid under the robustness and endogenous tests.(4)In terms of indirect effects,digital infrastructure has a significant positive effect on the three mediating variables,and green technology innovation,factor marketization and financial development level show partial mediating effects.It is verified that digital infrastructure can be conducive to the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" through the three paths of green technology innovation,factor marketization and financial development level.(5)In terms of spatial effect,digital infrastructure could have a positive spatial spillover effect on the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in the region.Meanwhile,the development of digital infrastructure in neighboring areas can also produce positive spatial spillover effects on the coordinated development of "environment-economy-society" in the region.According to the above theoretical analyses and empirical results,the following suggestions are put forward:(1)The upper reaches of the Yangtze River should clarify the gap,link resources,and accelerate the layout and construction of digital infrastructure;(2)The upper reaches of the Yangtze River should learn from experience and enrich the base to enhance the internal driving force of digital infrastructure;(3)The upper reaches of the Yangtze River should anchor its characteristics,focus on development,and give full effect to the enabling role of digital infrastructure.