Study on the Impact of the Digital Economy on Employment Quality and the Mechanism of Action Based on China’s Interprovincial Panel Data from 2013 to 2022

The digital economy is reshaping the employment landscape, playing a crucial role in promoting employment stability and fostering sustainable economic growth. Research has focused mainly on the impact of the digital economy on the employment structure, such as China’s changing employment structure under the influence of the digital economy and the relationships among the digital economy, employment structure and labor share. However, comprehensive research exploring how the digital economy affects employment quality and spatial dynamic evolution is lacking. This study aims to fill this gap. First, we construct a set of digital economy indicator systems containing multiple dimensions and use the entropy-weighted Topsis method to measure the weight of each indicator of the digital economy. Second, using 2013–2022 Chinese interprovincial panel data, we introduce a two-way fixed effects model to verify the hypotheses and cite multiple models to verify the robustness of the results. Additionally, we carry out spatial heterogeneity and dynamic evolution analysis and explore the spatial differences and dynamic evolution process of the impact of the digital economy on employment quality. This study revealed that the digital economy positively influences employment quality. Mechanistic analysis reveals this impact is achieved mainly through improving human capital and increasing salaries. Additionally, the effect of the digital economy on employment quality is regionally differentiated, with the eastern regions having a more developed digital economy and higher employment quality. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the digital economy and employment quality, offering empirical insights and policy recommendations for fostering digital economy development and improving employment quality.