Can the Digital Economy Power High-Quality Development in the Logistics Industry?

The rapid development of the digital economy provides an important opportunity for high-quality developments in the logistics industry. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2022, this paper investigates the impact of the digital economy on high-quality development in the logistics industry by constructing an index measuring the efficiency of high-quality development in the logistics industry and the digital economy. The results show that there is a positive U-shaped relationship between the digital economy and high-quality development in the logistics industry; additionally, the results show that the digitization level in China is on the rise. However, due to the regional digitization imbalance and the intensification of the competition trend, a decline in the high-quality development level of the logistics industry is likely. A heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of the digital economy on high-quality development in the logistics industry varies in different regions and at different economic levels. Further analysis shows that, when the level of new urbanization is higher than the threshold value of 0.592, it should promote the development of the logistics industry; when the contrary, it seems to have an inhibiting effect. This paper provides practical references for other developing countries and emerging countries with digital strategies in promoting the digital economy and logistics industry.