The impact of the digital economy on high-quality economic development in the Silk Road Economic Belt

This paper examines the mechanisms and regional heterogeneity in the impact of the digital economy on high-quality economic development within the Chinese section of the Silk Road Economic Belt. We construct a comprehensive evaluation system for high-quality economic development based on the five dimensions of “innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing,” as well as a digital economy development index covering four dimensions: “digital infrastructure, digital industrialization, industrial digitization, and digital economic environment.” Using panel data from 74 prefecture-level cities from 2013 to 2022, we conduct empirical tests. The findings confirm that the digital economy significantly promotes high-quality economic development. Industrial structure upgrading, technological innovation, and the level of openness to the outside world are three important transmission channels through which the digital economy enables high-quality development. Among these, industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation exhibit more prominent mediating effects. However, the impact of the digital economy shows significant regional heterogeneity. Its promoting effect is more pronounced in the southwestern region but weaker in the northwestern region, reflecting a regional “digital divide.” The conclusions remain valid after addressing endogeneity issues and conducting robustness checks. In advancing the “Digital Silk Road,” the paper recommends focusing on strengthening digital infrastructure development, deepening the integration of the digital and real economies, implementing regionally differentiated policies, and emphasizing human capital development, to achieve higher-quality, sustainable, and balanced growth in the Silk Road Economic Belt.