Digital Trade Rule Network Status and Energy Resilience: Evidence from 110 Economies

Global digital trade rules are evolving from fragmented treaty provisions into networked governance arrangements with potential implications for energy security and sustainable transitions. Using panel data for 110 economies from 2000 to 2023, this study estimates the effect of digital trade rule network status on energy resilience with two-way fixed-effects, robustness checks, instrumental‑variable estimations, mechanism, heterogeneity, and regional-competition analyses. Higher network status significantly improves energy resilience. The effect operates through stronger cross-border information flows, institutional coordination, and international technology absorption, and varies across provision types, income levels, digital infrastructure, and energy poverty. Regional competition also matters: a “shielding effect” can strengthen network benefits, whereas a “dilution effect” can weaken them, depending on rule compatibility and agreement timing. These findings highlight digital trade rule networks as institutional channels for strengthening energy resilience. Developing and emerging economies should coordinate gradual rule integration with domestic capacity building, while those facing severe energy poverty should prioritize basic energy access and essential digital infrastructure.