[Digital Economy Empowers Low Carbon Economy Transformation： Based on Intermediary, Threshold, and Spatial Spillover Effects].

Abstract

In the dual context of rapid development in the digital economy and pursuit of dual carbon goals, exploring the impact of the digital economy on regional low-carbon economic transformation holds considerable importance. Based on the balanced panel data of 30 provinces from 2010 to 2021, this study empirically examined the direct, indirect, nonlinear, and spatial spillover effects of digital economy on regional low-carbon economic transformation using the panel fixed effect, intermediary effect, threshold effect, and spatial econometric models. The results showed that： ① Digital economy could significantly promote the transition of low-carbon economy, which was valid after multiple robustness tests. ② The mechanism test showed that the digital economy substantially promoted the transformation of the regional low-carbon economy by promoting green technology innovation and new urbanization. ③ The threshold effect test showed that when the level of green technology innovation was too high or the level of urbanization was in the primary stage, the role of digital economy in promoting regional low-carbon economic transformation would be weakened. ④ By constructing a spatial Dubin model, the digital economy showed a significant spatial spillover effect on the transformation of regional low-carbon economy, but the effect was stronger in the "geographically neighboring provinces and municipalities" than in the "economically neighboring provinces and municipalities".