How does digitalization drive carbon emissions? The inverted U-shaped effect in China

The dissemination of information, knowledge spillover, intelligent monitoring, and advanced productivity provided by digital technology (DT) play an essential role in combating climate change. Whether the business model changes and economic development facilitated by digital technologies will enable China to achieve its goal of a low-carbon transition remains to be seen. Based on 269 cities in China from 2006 to 2021, the study used two-way fixed effects and instrumental variables to analyze the role of DT in carbon reduction and its indirect mechanisms. The results indicate that the wide application and deep integration of DT in the physical industry will reduce carbon emissions (CE). The mechanism analysis reveals that DT, with its efficient, integrated, and green characteristics, will help improve energy efficiency and promote green technology innovation, thereby reducing CE. Most importantly, this study innovatively reveals the role of virtual agglomeration in carbon reduction. It uses data factors with production characteristics to shift the supply and demand parties and related enterprises from physical space to cyberspace agglomeration, which plays a significant positive role in the process of reducing CE. DT has a heterogeneous effect on reducing CE, especially in the sample of urban agglomeration and resource-based cities, which is more intense. The central government's policies on digital infrastructure and CE regulation influence the role of digital technologies in reducing CE. The conclusions of this study have implications for relevant market entities and the government to fully utilise DT to accelerate the realisation of green production and cope with climate change. 

Technology-driven carbon reduction: Analyzing the impact of digital technology on China's carbon emission and its mechanism

With the rapid advancement of contemporary information technology, the profound amalgamation of the digital and real economy bestows a novel impetus to attain sustainable development. This study constructs the Cobb-Douglas production function from the perspective of cost minimization and combines it with the new economic geography to explore the internal relationships among the digital economy, industrial agglomeration, and sustainable development. Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning 2015 to 2021, this study establishes a time-fixed effects model, a mediation effect model, and Shapley Additive Explanations, thereby analyzing the impact and action path of the digital economy on sustainable development and investigating the heterogeneity in regional and industrial agglomeration patterns. These findings indicate that digital economy has a significant positive effect on sustainable development. Industrial agglomeration is an important way for the digital economy to promote sustainable development. Simultaneously, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between digital economy and industrial agglomeration. Furthermore, the positive effect of the digital economy on sustainable development in the eastern and western regions is more significant than in the northeastern and central regions, and the effect of specialized agglomeration is significantly better than that of diversified agglomeration. Therefore, applying industrial agglomeration and perfecting digital economic laws and regulations and governance rules should be used to give full play to the digital dividend, promote sustainable development, and realize the harmonious development of the economy, society, and environment. 

How does the digital economy impact sustainable development? —An empirical study from China

How does energy poverty eradication promote common prosperity in China? The role of labor productivity

The rapid development of China’s digital economy has promoted the digital transformation of Chinese society and become a new driving force for China’s social development. Furthermore, increasing farmers’ income is the central task of China’s “three rural issues” project, and the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary rural industries is an important way to revitalize rural industries and broaden farmers’ income channels, so it is very important to promote the integrated development of rural industries. In the context of the rapid development of China’s digital economy, it is of great significance to study how the digital economy promotes the integration of rural industries. Therefore, this study analyzed how China’s digital economy promotes the integration of rural industries by using the panel data and regression models of 30 provinces (municipalities and districts) in China from 2011 to 2021. The results show that (1) there is a significant positive relationship between the development level of the digital economy and the level of rural–industrial integration and that the development of the digital economy promotes the process of rural–industrial integration; (2) intermediary effect analysis shows that as the digital economy promotes rural–industrial integration, scientific and technological innovation levels and rural human capital are important intermediary channels; and (3) spatial analysis shows that the development of the digital economy can not only promote the integration of rural industries in the province but also have a positive spatial spillover effect on neighboring provinces. Therefore, it is necessary to create a good atmosphere for the development of the digital economy, constantly promote the development of the digital economy, pay attention to scientific and technological innovation and rural talent training, and promote the integration and coordinated development of the digital economy and rural industries between regions in order to improve the level of rural–industrial integration and contribute to the rural revitalization strategy.

How Can the Digital Economy Promote the Integration of Rural Industries—Taking China as an Example

Research on carbon emission reduction effect of China's regional digital trade under the “double carbon” target–– combination of the regulatory role of industrial agglomeration and carbon emissions trading mechanism

Whether the digital economy will successfully encourage the integration of urban and rural development: A case study in China

This paper attempts to explore the overall impact of its rural digitization process on agricultural carbon emissions and non-point source pollution in the context of China. By doing so, we analyze whether digitization has an impact on agricultural pollution reduction, analyze its conductive mechanism, and draw its policy implications. To this end, the paper innovatively incorporates new digital infrastructure and urbanization level into of the concept of agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) and adopts the SBM-DEA model, entropy weighting method, and mixed regression to analyze, based on the sample data of the 30 provinces of China from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate that: (1) new digital infrastructure has a significant contribution to the improvement of AEE of China; (2) both information infrastructure and integration infrastructure have a significant positive effect on AEE, and the effect of information infrastructure is more effective, but there is an inverted “U”-shaped relationship between innovation infrastructure and AEE level; (3) the moderating effect mechanism suggests that the level of urbanization reinforces the contribution of new digital infrastructure to AEE; and (4) the heterogeneity test shows that the effect of new digital infrastructure on AEE is more significant in regions with well-developed traditional transportation facilities and in periods when the government pays more attention to agricultural ecological issues. The above results also provide rich insights for China and other similar developing countries on how to balance the agriculture digitization and AEE.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3552/pdf?version=1676615347

New Digital Infrastructure’s Impact on Agricultural Eco-Efficiency Improvement: Influence Mechanism and Empirical Test—Evidence from China

This study examines the effects of digital financial inclusion on non-farm employment of rural labor and the mediating mechanism of innovation and entrepreneurship activity using China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and the provincial index of digital financial inclusion. Through the empirical test of the Probit model and mediation effect model, we found that: firstly, digital financial inclusion can promote non-farm employment of rural labor, with the level of digitalization having the most significant impact; secondly, by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurial activity, digital financial inclusion can promote non-farm employment of rural labor; thirdly, the driving effect of digital financial inclusion on non-farm employment of rural labor is more pronounced among the unmarried, eastern region, and male labor. Therefore, we should improve the construction of rural digital infrastructure and accelerate the development of inclusive rural finance to promote more diversified non-farm employment options for “disadvantaged groups”; encourage and support innovation at the government level, and create a favorable atmosphere for innovation and entrepreneurship. Simultaneously, farmers’ digital literacy and financial knowledge should be improved so that more can adopt and take advantage of digital financial inclusion. 

The impact and heterogeneity analysis of digital financial inclusion on non-farm employment of rural labor

Agricultural carbon emission is an significant cause of global climate change and many environmental and health problems. Achieving low-carbon and green development in agriculture is not only an inevitable choice for countries around the world to cope with climate change and the accompanying environmental and health problems, but also a necessary path for the sustainable development of global agriculture. The promotion of rural industrial integration is a practical way to realize sustainable agricultural growth and urban–rural integration development. The analysis framework of agriculture GTFP is creatively extended in this study to include the integration and growth of rural industries, rural human capital investment and rural land transfer. According to the sample data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 and the systematic GMM estimation method, and through the combination of theoretical analysis and empirical testing, this paper discusses the influence mechanism of rural industrial integration development on agriculture GTFP growth, as well as the regulating role of rural human capital investment and rural land transfer. The results show that rural industrial integration has significantly promoted the growth of agriculture GTFP. Additionally, after decomposing agriculture GTFP into the agricultural green technology progress index and agricultural green technology efficiency index, it is found that rural industrial integration has a more obvious role in promoting agricultural green technology progress. Furthermore, quantile regression found that with the increase in agricultural GTFP, the promoting effect of rural industrial integration showed an “inverted U-shaped” feature. Through heterogeneity testing, it is found that the agriculture GTFP growth effect of rural industrial integration is more obvious in areas with high level of rural industrial integration. Additionally, as the nation places more and more focus on rural industrial integration, the promotion role of rural industrial integration has become more and more obvious. The moderating effect test showed that health, education and training, migration of rural human capital investment and rural land transfer all strengthened the promoting effect of rural industrial integration on agricultural GTFP growth to varying degrees. This study provides rich policy insights for China and other developing countries around the world to address global climate change and many related environmental and monitoring issues by developing rural industrial integration, strengthening rural human capital investment and promoting agricultural land transfer to achieve sustainable agricultural growth and reduce undesirable output outputs such as agricultural carbon emissions.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3860/pdf?version=1677228539

Rural Industrial Integration’s Impact on Agriculture GTFP Growth: Influence Mechanism and Empirical Test Using China as an Example

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