IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v165y2022ics0301421522001525.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Wei
  • Liu, Xuemeng
  • Wang, Die
  • Zhou, Jianping

Abstract

This paper discusses the effect and mechanisms of digital economy (diec) on carbon emission performance (cop). Specifically, based on the panel data of 277 cities in China from 2011 to 2019, carbon emission performance and digital economy at the city level were evaluated through global super efficiency Epsilon-Based Measure (EBM) with unexpected output, and the vertical and horizontal scatter degree method, respectively. The OLS, mediation effect model, threshold model and spatial Durbin model (SDM) were adopted to investigate the nexus of diec and cop. The results show that: First, digital economy improves carbon emission performance, and this conclusion holds even after a series of robustness tests and endogenous treatment. The main impact mechanisms are energy intensity (ei), energy consumption scale (ec) and urban afforestation. And the effect and its impact mechanisms show regional heterogeneity. Second, under different levels of energy consumption structure, ei, ec, government intervention and urban afforestation, the impact of diec on cop is non-linear. Third, there's a spatial effect between diec and cop. The impact of diec on cop is significantly positive in local cities, while insignificant in the neighboring cities. Based on the above conclusions, specific recommendations are proposed for diec to improve cop.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:165:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522001525
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112927
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522001525
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112927?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shuming Ren & Lianqing Li & Yueqi Han & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu, 2022. "The emerging driving force of inclusive green growth: Does digital economy agglomeration work?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1656-1678, May.
    2. Carmen Nadia CIOCOIU, 2011. "Integrating Digital Economy And Green Economy: Opportunities For Sustainable Development," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 6(1), pages 33-43, February.
    3. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2010. "The greenness of cities: Carbon dioxide emissions and urban development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 404-418, May.
    4. Zhang, Dongyang & Mohsin, Muhammad & Rasheed, Abdul Khaliq & Chang, Youngho & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Public spending and green economic growth in BRI region: Mediating role of green finance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    6. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    7. Pastor, Jesus T. & Lovell, C.A. Knox, 2005. "A global Malmquist productivity index," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 266-271, August.
    8. Wang, Wei-Zheng & Liu, Lan-Cui & Liao, Hua & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2021. "Impacts of urbanization on carbon emissions: An empirical analysis from OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    9. Nag, Barnali & Parikh, Jyoti, 2000. "Indicators of carbon emission intensity from commercial energy use in India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 441-461, August.
    10. Chen, Yongmin, 2020. "Improving market performance in the digital economy," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Teng, Xiangyu & Liu, Fan-peng & Chiu, Yung-ho, 2021. "The change in energy and carbon emissions efficiency after afforestation in China by applying a modified dynamic SBM model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    12. Song, Yan & Zhang, Xiao & Zhang, Ming, 2021. "The influence of environmental regulation on industrial structure upgrading: Based on the strategic interaction behavior of environmental regulation among local governments," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Zhou, Guangyou & Zhu, Jieyu & Luo, Sumei, 2022. "The impact of fintech innovation on green growth in China: Mediating effect of green finance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    14. Roel Brouwers & Frederiek Schoubben & Cynthia Van Hulle, 2018. "The influence of carbon cost pass through on the link between carbon emission and corporate financial performance in the context of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1422-1436, December.
    15. Thorsten Koch & Josef Windsperger, 2017. "Seeing through the network: Competitive advantage in the digital economy," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-30, December.
    16. Ronald Bernstein & Reinhard Madlener, 2010. "Impact of disaggregated ICT capital on electricity intensity in European manufacturing," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(17), pages 1691-1695.
    17. Susanto Basu & John G. Fernald, 2008. "Information and communications technology as a general purpose technology: evidence from U.S. industry data," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 1-15.
    18. Pan, Wenrong & Xie, Tao & Wang, Zhuwang & Ma, Lisha, 2022. "Digital economy: An innovation driver for total factor productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 303-311.
    19. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Okubo, Toshihiro, 2010. "Trade, environmental regulations and industrial mobility: An industry-level study of Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1995-2002, August.
    20. Keller, Wolfgang, 2002. "Trade and the Transmission of Technology," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 5-24, March.
    21. Tone, Kaoru & Tsutsui, Miki, 2010. "An epsilon-based measure of efficiency in DEA - A third pole of technical efficiency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(3), pages 1554-1563, December.
    22. Wei Zhang & Siqi Zhao & Xiaoyu Wan & Yuan Yao, 2021. "Study on the effect of digital economy on high-quality economic development in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, September.
    23. Cheng, Zhonghua & Li, Lianshui & Liu, Jun & Zhang, Huiming, 2018. "Total-factor carbon emission efficiency of China's provincial industrial sector and its dynamic evolution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 330-339.
    24. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    25. Zhang, Ning & Yu, Keren & Chen, Zhongfei, 2017. "How does urbanization affect carbon dioxide emissions? A cross-country panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 678-687.
    26. Carlsson, Bo, 2004. "The Digital Economy: what is new and what is not?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 245-264, September.
    27. Avom, Désiré & Nkengfack, Hilaire & Fotio, Hervé Kaffo & Totouom, Armand, 2020. "ICT and environmental quality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects and transmission channels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    28. Bizzi, Lorenzo & Labban, Alice, 2019. "The double-edged impact of social media on online trading: Opportunities, threats, and recommendations for organizations," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 509-519.
    29. Sun, J. W., 2005. "The decrease of CO2 emission intensity is decarbonization at national and global levels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 975-978, May.
    30. Anusua Datta & Sumit Agarwal, 2004. "Telecommunications and economic growth: a panel data approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(15), pages 1649-1654.
    31. R. Ramanathan, 2002. "Combining indicators of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions: a cross-country comparison," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 17(3), pages 214-227.
    32. Wu, Haitao & Xu, Lina & Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Yan, Guoyao, 2020. "How do energy consumption and environmental regulation affect carbon emissions in China? New evidence from a dynamic threshold panel model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    33. Xu, Shi-Chun & He, Zheng-Xia & Long, Ru-Yin, 2014. "Factors that influence carbon emissions due to energy consumption in China: Decomposition analysis using LMDI," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 182-193.
    34. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Han, J.Y., 2010. "Total factor carbon emission performance: A Malmquist index analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 194-201, January.
    35. Shoufu Xu & Xuehui He & Longbing Xu, 2018. "Market or government: who plays a decisive role in R&D resource allocation?," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(1), pages 110-136, August.
    36. Caviggioli, Federico, 2016. "Technology fusion: Identification and analysis of the drivers of technology convergence using patent data," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 55, pages 22-32.
    37. Xu, Le & Fan, Meiting & Yang, Lili & Shao, Shuai, 2021. "Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    38. Serdar Yilmaz & Kingley E. Haynes & Mustafa Dinc, 2002. "Geographic and Network Neighbors: Spillover Effects of Telecommunications Infrastructure," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 339-360, May.
    39. Shao, Shuai & Guo, Longfei & Yu, Mingliang & Yang, Lili & Guan, Dabo, 2019. "Does the rebound effect matter in energy import-dependent mega-cities? Evidence from Shanghai (China)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 212-228.
    40. Gai, Zhiqiang & Guo, Yunxia & Hao, Yu, 2022. "Can internet development help break the resource curse? Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    41. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Sun, Ya-Fang & Huang, Junling, 2018. "Energy efficiency, carbon emission performance, and technology gaps: Evidence from CDM project investment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 119-130.
    42. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    43. Du, Kerui & Li, Jianglong, 2019. "Towards a green world: How do green technology innovations affect total-factor carbon productivity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 240-250.
    44. Zhao, Xiaomeng & Liu, Chuanjiang & Sun, Chuanwang & Yang, Mian, 2020. "Does stringent environmental regulation lead to a carbon haven effect? Evidence from carbon-intensive industries in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    45. Magnus Blomström & Robert E. Lipsey & Mario Zejan, 1996. "Is Fixed Investment the Key to Economic Growth?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(1), pages 269-276.
    46. Walker, William, 1985. "Information technology and the use of energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 458-476, October.
    47. Jiang, Jinhe, 2016. "China's urban residential carbon emission and energy efficiency policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 866-875.
    48. Yu Hao & Haitao Wu, 2021. "The Role of Internet Development on Energy Intensity in China - Evidence From a Spatial Econometric Analysis," Asian Economics Letters, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, vol. 1(1), pages 1-6.
    49. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2005. "A theoretical basis for the environmental Kuznets curve," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 403-413, May.
    50. Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2021. "How does internet development affect energy-saving and emission reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    51. Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Yan, Siqi & Guo, Guancheng & Peng, Shangui, 2020. "China’s local governments breaking the land use planning quota: A strategic interaction perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    52. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu & Yang, Xiaodong & Xie, Guo, 2021. "Does internet development improve green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    53. Xin-gang, Zhao & Ling, Wu & Ying, Zhou, 2020. "How to achieve incentive regulation under renewable portfolio standards and carbon tax policy? A China's power market perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    54. Wang, Jiaxin & Lu, Feng, 2021. "Modeling the electricity consumption by combining land use types and landscape patterns with nighttime light imagery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    55. Tone, Kaoru, 2001. "A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 498-509, May.
    56. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2019. "Can expanding natural gas consumption reduce China's CO2 emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 393-407.
    57. Collard, Fabrice & Feve, Patrick & Portier, Franck, 2005. "Electricity consumption and ICT in the French service sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 541-550, May.
    58. ZhongXiang Zhang, 2014. "Energy Prices: The Key to Enable the Market to Play a Decisive Role in Resource Allocation," Energy & Environment, , vol. 25(8), pages 1473-1476, December.
    59. Wang, Lei & Chen, Yangyang & Ramsey, Thomas Stephen & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2021. "Will researching digital technology really empower green development?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    60. Moyer, Jonathan D. & Hughes, Barry B., 2012. "ICTs: Do they contribute to increased carbon emissions?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(5), pages 919-931.
    61. Yongsheng Zhang, 2015. "Reformulating the low-carbon green growth strategy in China," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(sup1), pages 40-59, December.
    62. Siyu Ren & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu, 2022. "How Does Green Investment Affect Environmental Pollution? Evidence from China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(1), pages 25-51, January.
    63. Yu, Yanni & Qian, Tao & Du, Limin, 2017. "Carbon productivity growth, technological innovation, and technology gap change of coal-fired power plants in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 479-487.
    64. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    65. Diane Coyle, 1999. "The Weightless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262531666, December.
    66. Du, Kerui & Li, Pengzhen & Yan, Zheming, 2019. "Do green technology innovations contribute to carbon dioxide emission reduction? Empirical evidence from patent data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 297-303.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Le & Fan, Meiting & Yang, Lili & Shao, Shuai, 2021. "Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Wang, Ke-Liang & Sun, Ting-Ting & Xu, Ru-Yu & Miao, Zhuang & Cheng, Yun-He, 2022. "How does internet development promote urban green innovation efficiency? Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Pan, Minjie & Zhao, Xin & lv, Kangjuan & Rosak-Szyrocka, Joanna & Mentel, Grzegorz & Truskolaski, Tadeusz, 2023. "Internet development and carbon emission-reduction in the era of digitalization: Where will resource-based cities go?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    6. Tang, Chang & Xue, Yan & Wu, Haitao & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does telecommunications infrastructure affect eco-efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Ma, Dan & Zhu, Qing, 2022. "Innovation in emerging economies: Research on the digital economy driving high-quality green development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 801-813.
    8. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Sha, Yezhou & Yan, Cheng, 2022. "Envisaging the carbon emissions efficiency of digitalization: The case of the internet economy for China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Zhuoxi Yu & Shan Liu & Zhichuan Zhu, 2022. "Has the Digital Economy Reduced Carbon Emissions?: Analysis Based on Panel Data of 278 Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2021. "How does internet development affect energy-saving and emission reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    11. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Shuming Ren & Lianqing Li & Yueqi Han & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu, 2022. "The emerging driving force of inclusive green growth: Does digital economy agglomeration work?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1656-1678, May.
    13. Wang, Weilong & Yang, Xiaodong & Cao, Jianhong & Bu, Wenchao & Dagestani, Abd Alwahed & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Dilanchiev, Azer & Ren, Siyu, 2022. "Energy internet, digital economy, and green economic growth: Evidence from China," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(2).
    14. Xue, Yan & Tang, Chang & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Jianmin & Hao, Yu, 2022. "The emerging driving force of energy consumption in China: Does digital economy development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    15. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "How will promoting the digital economy affect electricity intensity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Li, Yaya & Zhang, Yun, 2023. "What is the role of green ICT innovation in lowering carbon emissions in China? A provincial-level analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    17. Xuan Chang & Jinye Li, 2022. "Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Durbin Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    18. Junhong Qu & Xiaoli Hao, 2022. "Digital Economy, Financial Development, and Energy Poverty Based on Mediating Effects and a Spatial Autocorrelation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-24, July.
    19. Ran, Qiying & Yang, Xiaodong & Yan, Hongchuan & Xu, Yang & Cao, Jianhong, 2023. "Natural resource consumption and industrial green transformation: Does the digital economy matter?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Wang, Xiong & Wang, Xiao & Ren, Xiaohang & Wen, Fenghua, 2022. "Can digital financial inclusion affect CO2 emissions of China at the prefecture level? Evidence from a spatial econometric approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:165:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522001525. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.