Research on the impact of the digital economy on carbon-neutral technology innovation

At the historical intersection of the “dual carbon” strategy and the digital economy, leveraging digital power to promote environmental governance and technology innovation has emerged as a key area of study. Consequently, investigating how the digital economy influences carbon-neutral technology innovation has become a prominent area of focus. Utilizing panel data from 264 Chinese cities spanning 2011 to 2022, this study explores the influence of the digital economy and its internal structure on carbon-neutral technology innovation. The results show: (1) The digital economy possesses a potent promotional role in driving carbon-neutral technology innovation, and there is regional heterogeneity. (2) Digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, two major systems within the digital economy, have significant promoting impacts on carbon-neutral technology innovation, and compared with industrial digitalization, the promoting effect of digital industrialization is stronger. (3) The digital economy can enhance carbon-neutral technology innovation by improving resource mismatch. (4) When using the digital economy, digital industrialization, and industrial digitalization as threshold variables, the digital economy produces a nonlinear influence on carbon-neutral technology innovation. (5) The digital economy exerts a spatial spillover influence on carbon-neutral technology innovation. The research’s conclusions have certain referential value for promoting China’s digital economy and carbon-neutral technology innovation.