Research on the Effect of Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions under the Background of "Double Carbon"

Does digital economy keep enterprises out of green innovation trouble? evidence from "double carbon" goal

The proposal of the "dual carbon" targets has provided direction for promoting China's economic green transformation and green innovation. As enterprises are important entities driving technological innovation in China, enhancing their green innovation capabilities holds significant practical significance for reducing carbon emissions. While the flourishing development of the digital economy currently provides new avenues and impetus for enterprise green innovation, research on the micro-level effects of green innovation driven by digital economy is still lacking. Therefore, based on data from Chinese cities spanning 2010 to 2021 and micro-level data of listed enterprises, this paper employs fixed effect model and intermediary effect model to empirically test the effect and mechanism of urban digital economy development on the quality and quantity of enterprise green innovation. Additionally, it investigates the carbon emission reduction effect resulting from digital economy development. The findings are as follows: (1) The development of digital economy exhibits a significant green innovation effect, effectively enhancing both the "quality and quantity" of enterprise green innovation. Particularly noteworthy is its impact on the quality of green innovation in enterprises, a result corroborated by several robustness tests. (2) Promoting regional knowledge spillover and alleviating enterprise financing constraints emerge as mechanisms through which the digital economy enhances the "quality and quantity" of enterprise green innovation. (3) Heterogeneity testing reveals that the digital economy exerts a greater green innovation effect on enterprises located in regions characterized by higher environmental regulations, high-tech industries, and state-owned enterprises. (4) Further analysis demonstrates that the digital economy effectively reduces enterprises carbon emissions and enhances their carbon performance by driving green innovation, thus providing endogenous impetus for achieving the "dual carbon" goals. By examining the effects and mechanisms of green innovation driven by digital economy from the perspectives of promoting knowledge spillover and alleviating financing constraints, this study enriches theoretical research on the relationship between the digital economy and green innovation at the enterprise micro-level. It offers new insights for governments in formulating green innovation policies and serves as a reference for green innovation decision-making in other developing countries.

Coupling coordination evaluation and driving path of digital economy and carbon emission efficiency in China: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis based on 30 provinces

Enhancing the level of coupling coordination between the digital economy (DIE) and carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is not only an inevitable choice for achieving the goals of energy conservation and emission reduction and promoting green development in China, but also a key path to implementing China's "Double Carbon" strategy. Based on the relevant statistical data of 30 provincial-level regions in China from the period covering 2011 to 2019, this paper empirically analyzed the coupling coordination between the DIE and CEE and its influencing factors. In this study, an improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model was used to evaluate the degree of the coupling and coordinated development of the DIE and CEE in provincial regions of China. Finally, based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method was employed to identify the realization path of the coupling and coordinated development of the DIE and CEE from the perspective of configuration. The results demonstrated that the coupling coordination between the DIE and CCE in China demonstrated a gradual upward trend, and exhibited regional differences, showing a decreasing trend of east > middle > west. Regarding the influencing factors, no single influencing factor could act as a necessary condition for the high CCD, the coupling and coordinated development of the DIE and CEE is a multifactorial synergy. There were five paths for the high degree of coupling coordination between the DIE and CEE, which were divided into three types: organization-environment-led type, environment-led type, and technology-organization-led type. Furthermore, technological innovation level and industrial structure could substitute for one another in some conditions, and environmental regulation and economic development level were synchronized. These conclusions provide a theoretical basis for countries to formulate policies to promote the coupling and coordinated development of their DIE and CEE.

The effect of the digital economy on carbon emissions: an empirical study in China

Under the new development model, the digital economy has become a new engine to promote the green development of the economy and achieve the goal of "double carbon." Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces and cities from 2011 to 2021, the impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions was empirically studied by constructing a panel model and a mediation model. The results show that firstly, the effect of the digital economy on carbon emissions is a non-linear inverted "U" shaped relationship, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests; secondly, the results of the benchmark regression show that economic agglomeration is an essential mechanism through which the digital economy affects carbon emissions and that the digital economy can indirectly suppress carbon emissions through economic agglomeration. Finally, the results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions varies according to the level of regional development, and its effect on carbon emissions is mainly in the eastern region, while its impact on the central and western regions is weaker, indicating that the impact effect is primarily in developed regions. Therefore, the government should accelerate the construction of new digital infrastructure and implement the development strategy of the digital economy according to local conditions to promote a more significant carbon emission reduction effect of the digital economy.