Higher education green innovation and regional digitalization: spatiotemporal evolution and drivers

Purpose This study aims to examine how higher education green innovation (HEGI) and regional digital development (RDD) evolve across Chinese provinces, how their spatial inequality changes and which regional conditions are associated with stronger coordination. Design/methodology/approach Using provincial panel data for China from 2014 to 2023, this study applies improved entropy-weighted TOPSIS, a revised coupling coordination degree model, Dagum Gini decomposition, the standard deviational ellipse, a two-way fixed-effects Spatial Durbin Model and a supplementary reduced-instrument System GMM model. Findings Coordination between HEGI and RDD increased steadily from near imbalance to primary coordination. Spatial inequality declined overall, although an east-west gradient remained and inter-regional differences were still the main source of disparity. Economic development and industrial upgrading were positively associated with local coordination and positive spillovers, whereas urban congestion and the pollution-haven channel of environmental regulation constrained coordination. Reduced-instrument System GMM results provide supportive, though not definitive, evidence consistent with a positive role of RDD in HEGI. Originality/value This study integrates HEGI and RDD into one analytical framework and links descriptive evolution, spatial inequality and driving mechanisms within a task-specific empirical design. It shows that HEGI–RDD coordination is best understood as an institutionalized regional conversion process rather than a simple co-movement of indicators.