Impact of the Digital Economy on the Green Economy: Evidence from China

In recent years, the digital economy and the green economy have become integral parts of China’s economy. Chinese government has been actively expanding its support for the development of these sectors. However, there are still several obstacles hindering the progress of the digital economy and the green economy in China. The objective of this study is to delve into the impact mechanism of the digital economy on the green economy. Moreover, this paper innovatively integrates industrial structure and technological innovation into this impact process. We elucidate the significant roles played by these two mediating variables. Simultaneously, we employ the bidirectional fixed-effect model, baseline regression, and robustness tests to analyze the data from 31 provinces in China between 2012 and 2021. The conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) The development of the digital economy in China contributes to the improvement of the level of the green economy. (2) When the digital economy influences the green economy, the upgrading of industrial structure and technological innovation play significant roles. (3) The impact of the digital economy on the green economy varies across diverse regions in China. This study reveals the impact mechanism of the digital economy on the development of the green economy using variables of industrial structure and technological innovation. It enriches the research content in this field and extends the application scenarios of related research methods. The conclusions provide valuable references for promoting the development of both the digital economy and the green economy in China.