Does digital economy development affect urban environment quality: Evidence from 285 cities in China.

The impact of the digital economy (DE) on urban environmental quality (EQ) is a critical aspect of China's economic development. This study investigates the impact of DI on urban EQ using the data from prefecture-level cities spanning the period from 2011 to 2021 and updates some disparate conclusions of related studies. It is discovered that a non-linear correlation exists between DE and urban EQ. Currently, DE can effectively improve local city EQ. This conclusion remains valid even after robustness tests and endogeneity treatment. The impact of DE on improving EQ can be classified as the impact of technological innovation, industrial upgrading, resource allocation, infrastructure construction, environmental governance, and changes in public lifestyle. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the influence of DE is particularly pronounced in cities located in central and eastern regions of China, those with higher levels of administrative management, resource-based urban areas, and those with more stringent environmental regulations.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Li, Yang. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)