Research on the Effect of High Quality Developmentof Digital Economy on Common Prosperity: A Case Study of Anhui Province

This study is based on panel data from 16 prefecture level cities in Anhui Province from 2015 to 2024. By constructing a comprehensive indicator system for the development of digital economy and common prosperity, the entropy method is used to measure their development level, and a mixed OLS model and fixed effects model are used to empirically test the impact mechanism of digital economy on common prosperity. Research has found that: (1) the digital economy has a significant positive driving effect on common prosperity, with regression coefficients ranging from 0.368-0.756 (P<0.01). Digital technology narrows the urban-rural gap by promoting flexible employment, rural e-commerce, and digital inclusive finance; (2) The regional heterogeneity is significant, with the digital economy having the strongest promoting effect on the central Anhui region (R²=0.869), followed by southern Anhui (R²=0.749), and northern Anhui (R²=0.293) being the weakest, reflecting the gradient differences in digital infrastructure level, industrial structure, and talent reserves between regions; (3) Between 2015 and 2024, regional disparities continued to widen, with the standard deviation of digital economy development increasing by 4.9 times and the range of common prosperity widening by 25.7%. The digital economy index of core cities such as Hefei (0.992 in 2024) reached 19.5 times that of the bottom ranked city. The research suggests that the focus should be on strengthening the digital infrastructure and smart agriculture construction in northern Anhui, promoting the digital upgrading of the industrial chain in central and southern Anhui, and promoting coordinated development through the construction of a regional digital economy alliance. At the same time, the government's ability to implement precise policies in digital governance should be strengthened to achieve universal sharing of the benefits of the digital economy.