The Impact of Digital Economy on High-Quality Development—An Empirical Analysis Based on China’s Cities

在全球经济格局调整、信息技术发展的大背景下，数字经济已经成为推动高质量发展的新引擎。以2008~2019年度全国地级市层面数据为基础，构建多维度评价体系，利用固定效应模型等方法，探索数字经济对高质量发展和区域异质性的影响。研究发现，数字经济发展对高质量发展的积极推动作用显著，经内生性检验和稳健性检验后，这一结论仍然成立。区域异质性测试表明，受数字经济的积极影响，东、中、西三个区域都很显著，但各有不同。影响系数最大的是西部地区，显著和稳定程度较高的是东部地区，略低的是中部地区。理论上，本研究拓展了二者关系的研究框架；实证上，丰富了经验证据。政策上，各地应立足区域特征制定策略，优化资源配置，加强区域协作，以强化数字经济对高质量发展的促进作用。Against the backdrop of the adjustment of the global economic landscape and the development of information technology, the digital economy has become a new engine for promoting high-quality development. Based on the data at the prefecture-level city level across the country from 2008 to 2019, a multi-dimensional evaluation system is constructed, and methods such as the fixed effects model are used to explore the impact of the digital economy on high-quality development and regional heterogeneity. The research finds that the development of the digital economy has a significant positive promoting effect on high-quality development. After endogeneity tests and robustness tests, this conclusion still holds. The regional heterogeneity test shows that the positive impact of the digital economy is significant in all three regions, namely the eastern, central, and western regions, but there are differences among them. The region with the largest impact coefficient is the western region, the eastern region has a relatively high level of significance and stability, and the central region has a slightly lower level. Theoretically, this study expands the research framework of the relationship between the digital economy and high-quality development. Empirically, it enriches the empirical evidence. In terms of policies, all localities should formulate strategies based on regional characteristics, optimize the allocation of resources, and strengthen regional cooperation to enhance the promoting effect of the digital economy on high-quality development.