Mechanism and spatial spillover effect of the digital economy on urban carbon Productivity: Evidence from 271 prefecture-level cities in China

In the process of promoting environmental and economic sustainable development, the digital economy plays a crucial role in facilitating the development of a low-carbon economy. This paper takes 271 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2020 as samples and adopts the Spatial Durbin Model and the mediation model to deeply explore the impact of the digital economy on carbon productivity based on the spatial spillover effect and its internal mechanism. The research results show that: (1) The digital economy can improve not only local carbon productivity but also that of other cities. (2) The analysis of mechanisms reveals that the digital economy can improve carbon productivity of both local and other prefecture-level cities through technological innovation and economic agglomeration. Regarding energy structure optimization, the digital economy merely increases local carbon productivity. However, none of the above-mentioned effects are achieved in terms of industrial structure rationalization. (3) Only the digital economy of non-resource-based cities can simultaneously increase carbon productivity of both the local and other cities, while this is not the case for resource-based cities, providing a brand-new basis for precise policy implementation. This paper contributes ground-breaking empirical insights and highly targeted policy implications for digital-driven green transformation.