Research on the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution: evidence from prefecture-level cities in China

Lately, the ongoing issue of haze pollution in multiple cities across China has had a profound impact on the residents’ wellbeing and overall health. The urgent necessity to address haze pollution is undeniable. Meanwhile, the rapidly evolving digital economy has sprung up as a pivotal driver for China’s economic growth, providing innovative approach to tackle haze pollution. This research explores the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution through utilizing the big data pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment. Panel data from 280 prefecture-level cities in China is adopted, covering the period from 2011 through 2020. This analysis incorporates various models, namely, difference-in-differences model (DID), mediation effect model, and difference-in-differences spatial Durbin model. The findings highlight the substantial contributions of digital economy in alleviating haze pollution. Furthermore, these findings hold true even after a series of rigorous robustness checks. The constraint influence of the digital economy on haze pollution is particularly prominent in metropolitan areas, cities with elevated administrative levels, primary environmental protection cities, as well as economically developed cities. Financial development and technological innovation serve as important mechanisms through which the digital economy suppresses haze pollution. After accounting for spatial factors, the digital economy exhibits consequential spillover effects, leading to substantial inhibition of haze pollution in surrounding cities as well as locally. The novel aspects of this paper are as follows: Firstly, it regards the establishment of big data experimental zones as the exogenous policy shock of digital economy and employs a multi period DID model to evaluate the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution. Secondly, it explores the transmission pathways through which the digital economy affects haze pollution from the perspectives of financial development and technological innovation. Thirdly, it investigates the heterogeneous characteristics of the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution. Fourthly, it examines the spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on haze pollution from the perspective of spatial econometrics.