A Study on Evaluation of the Development of the Digital Economy—The Case of Beijing

In recent years, the digital economy has developed rapidly around the world, and the evaluation of the development status of the digital economy has become a common concern of government departments and research institutions. At present, there is no unified standard framework for the evaluation of the development of the digital economy, and the results of different research are quite different. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for the development of the digital economy from four dimensions including technological innovation capability, digital infrastructure, the industries of the digital economy, and institutional environment. We take Beijing as an example, use the chain ratio method to calculate the development growth rate of various indicators in Beijing from 2015 to 2020, and use the threshold method and linear weighting method to compare the development level of the digital economy between Beijing and other four developed districts in 2020. The research results of this paper are as follows: First, the development of Beijing's digital economy shows a positive growth trend in general, especially in terms of the density of mobile base stations, the investment in fixed assets of the core industries of the digital economy, and the added value of the core industries of the digital economy. Second, Beijing's digital economy is in a backward position among developed districts in our country in terms of infrastructure construction, policy support, and industrial digitalization, which needs to be further improved.