Digital transport infrastructure and environmental sustainability: STIRPAT perspective based on China's evidence

Digital transport infrastructure (DTI) assets efficiently support people's daily activities of an economy. However, there remains limited research into examining how they impact environment. Acknowledging this gap, we identify the influence mechanisms of DTI comprising population size, economic growth and data flow under an expanded STIRPAT, and then examine them by developing the fixed- and mediation-effect econometric models. The results reveal that DTI can reduce pollution emissions at the national level within the economically developed regions, while its effect on the less developed economy is insignificant. Empirical evidence also indicates that there is an inverse relationship between the population size/data flow and air pollution, which however is aggravated by the economic growth. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of the population size and data flow on environmental emissions was positively changing (i.e., from insignificant to significant) during the period of 2006–2021. This research sets forth a platform to rethink the implications of environmental policies for DTI development within the long-term context.