IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v85y2025icp818-834.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unleashing the digital dividend: Exploring how the digital economy promotes the construction of new urbanization in China’s 284 prefecture-level cities?

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Rui
  • Wang, Yufeng
  • Wang, Qi
  • Zhang, Lingling
  • Xiong, Ruoxi

Abstract

In a “digital” era, developing the digital economy has become a key stepping stone for advancing new urbanization and common prosperity. This study explores the dynamic evolution characteristics of digital economy and new urbanization from the temporal-spatial dimensions through kernel density estimation (KDE). Spatial autocorrelation analysis and panel data spatial Durbin model (SDM) were used to empirically test the impact process, transmission path and spatial spillover effect of digital economy on new urbanization. In addition, the study further used the spatial distance threshold method and spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) to conduct detailed empirical tests on the heterogeneity of multi-distance thresholds, regional heterogeneity and robustness of the results of impact of digital economy on new urbanization. The study found that: (1) Digital economy and new urbanization both displayed a general growth tendency from 2011 to 2019, but both had significant temporal-spatial differences. (2) The improvement of digital economy not only supported local new urbanization efforts, but also generated positive spatial spillover effects on new urbanization in neighboring regions. (3) The spatial spillover of digital economy exhibited boundary and geographical attenuation characteristics effects on new urbanization, with spillover peaking at 800 km and attenuation reaching its limit at 1800km. (4) For regional heterogeneity, eastern region and urban agglomeration were more sufficient for the release of dividend and spillover spread of digital economy development. Technological innovation and industrial structure optimization were identified as crucial paths for transmission mechanism through which digital economy promote the construction of new urbanization. Therefore, to achieve regional coordination and common prosperity and further enhance spillover effects, efforts be made to integrate the digital economy with new urbanization, especially in central and western regions and non-central cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Rui & Wang, Yufeng & Wang, Qi & Zhang, Lingling & Xiong, Ruoxi, 2025. "Unleashing the digital dividend: Exploring how the digital economy promotes the construction of new urbanization in China’s 284 prefecture-level cities?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 818-834.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:85:y:2025:i:c:p:818-834
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2024.12.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592624003667
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2024.12.028?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. Lijiang Jia & Xiaoli Hu & Zhongwei Zhao & Bin He & Weiming Liu, 2022. "How Environmental Regulation, Digital Development and Technological Innovation Affect China’s Green Economy Performance: Evidence from Dynamic Thresholds and System GMM Panel Data Approaches," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.
    2. Keller, Wolfgang, 2002. "Trade and the Transmission of Technology," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 5-24, March.
    3. Angus Deaton, 2005. "Measuring Poverty in a Growing World (or Measuring Growth in a Poor World)," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Peterson K. Ozili, 2018. "Impact of digital finance on financial inclusion and stability," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 18(4), pages 329-340, December.
    5. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    6. Liao, Liping & Du, Minzhe, 2024. "How digital finance shapes residents' health: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Xu Han & Xianli Xia & Minjuan Zhao & Ke Xu & Xingguang Li, 2020. "Synergistic Effects between Financial Development and Improvements in New-type Urbanization: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(9), pages 2055-2072, July.
    8. Zou, Jing & Deng, Xiaojun, 2022. "To inhibit or to promote: How does the digital economy affect urban migrant integration in China?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    9. Guo, Qingbin & Wang, Yong & Dong, Xiaobin, 2022. "Effects of smart city construction on energy saving and CO2 emission reduction: Evidence from China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    10. Shen, Zhiyang & Wang, Songkai & Boussemart, Jean-Philippe & Hao, Yu, 2022. "Digital transition and green growth in Chinese agriculture," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    11. Ozili, Peterson Kitakogelu, 2018. "Impact of Digital Finance on Financial Inclusion and Stability," MPRA Paper 84771, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Chen, Mingxing & Liu, Weidong & Lu, Dadao, 2016. "Challenges and the way forward in China’s new-type urbanization," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 334-339.
    13. 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.
    14. Ya Ping Wang & Yanglin Wang & Jiansheng Wu, 2009. "Urbanization and Informal Development in China: Urban Villages in Shenzhen," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 957-973, December.
    15. Xu Han & Xianli Xia & Minjuan Zhao & Ke Xu & Xingguang Li, 2020. "Synergistic Effects between Financial Development and Improvements in New-type Urbanization: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(9), pages 2055-2072, July.
    16. Gaglio, Cyrielle & Kraemer-Mbula, Erika & Lorenz, Edward, 2022. "The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    17. Chen, Mingxing & Gong, Yinghua & Lu, Dadao & Ye, Chao, 2019. "Build a people-oriented urbanization: China’s new-type urbanization dream and Anhui model," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1-9.
    18. 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).
    19. Feng, Weilun & Liu, Yansui & Qu, Lulu, 2019. "Effect of land-centered urbanization on rural development: A regional analysis in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    20. Wen, Huwei & Chen, Wenjing & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2023. "Does digital service trade boost technological innovation?: International evidence," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    21. Song, Shuxin & Wen, Jun & Li, Yan & Li, Lingxiao, 2024. "How does digital economy affect green technological innovation in China? New evidence from the “Broadband China” policy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1093-1112.
    22. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    23. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Fuhao, 2022. "How does digital inclusive finance affect carbon intensity?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 174-190.
    24. Tao, Jiancong & Wang, Zhe & Xu, Yujie & Zhao, Boyu & Liu, Jiaqi, 2024. "Can the digital economy boost rural residents’ income? Evidence from China based on the spatial Durbin model," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 856-872.
    25. 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.
    26. Ma, Qiang & Tariq, Muhammad & Mahmood, Haider & Khan, Zeeshan, 2022. "The nexus between digital economy and carbon dioxide emissions in China: The moderating role of investments in research and development," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    27. Wang, Chao & Chen, Junjing & Li, Boyan & Chen, Nengcheng & Wang, Wei, 2023. "Impact of high-speed railway construction on spatial patterns of regional economic development along the route: A case study of the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    28. 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.
    29. Song, Zhouying & Wang, Chen & Bergmann, Luke, 2020. "China’s prefectural digital divide: Spatial analysis and multivariate determinants of ICT diffusion," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    30. Bouncken, Ricarda & Ratzmann, Martin & Barwinski, Roman & Kraus, Sascha, 2020. "Coworking spaces: Empowerment for entrepreneurship and innovation in the digital and sharing economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 102-110.
    31. Liu, Yi & Zhao, Xuan & Liu, Yi & Kong, Fanjun, 2023. "The dynamic impact of digital economy on the green development of traditional manufacturing industry: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 143-160.
    32. Sutherland, Will & Jarrahi, Mohammad Hossein, 2018. "The sharing economy and digital platforms: A review and research agenda," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 328-341.
    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. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Xia, Weifeng & Ruan, Zhiyu & Ma, Shenglin & Zhao, Jin & Yan, Jiale, 2025. "Can the digital economy enhance carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from 269 cities in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Xu, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "Exploring the impact of digital industry agglomeration on provincial energy efficiency in China: A panel data analysis from 2012 to 2020," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    4. Hongyang Yu & Jinchao Wang & Jiajun Xu & Binghao Ding, 2025. "Does digital economy agglomeration promote green economy efficiency? A spatial spillover and spatial heterogeneity perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 7379-7406, March.
    5. 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).
    6. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    7. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. 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).
    9. Jian Hou & Mengyao Zhang & Ye Li, 2024. "Can digital economy truly improve agricultural ecological transformation? New insights from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Li, Boyang & Du, Yuqin & Chen, Guijing, 2025. "Dynamic nexus between urban digitization and pollutant discharge: RBC theory and empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    11. Lyu, Yanwei & Zhang, Jinning & Wang, Wenqiang & Li, Yutao & Geng, Yong, 2024. "Toward low carbon development through digital economy: A new perspective of factor market distortion," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    12. Ren, Jianyu & Xu, Zhitao & Hu, Mingzhi, 2023. "Digital economy and settlement intention of migrants in urban China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    13. Qi Jiang & Jizhi Li & Hongyun Si & Yangyue Su, 2022. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on Agricultural Green Development: Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-22, July.
    14. Ma, Ruiyang & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Digitalization and energy-saving and emission reduction in Chinese cities: Synergy between industrialization and digitalization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    15. She, Yanan & Wang, Huan & Zhen, Shangsong & Peng, Yue & Wang, Wei & Liu, Yunqiang, 2025. "Two-way empowerment or one-way game? The impact of data factor endowment matching on enterprises’ green efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    16. Yingyuan Liu & Qian Wan & Wenhui Chen, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Digital Inclusive Finance as a Catalyst for Rural Revitalization: An Empirical Analysis from the County Development Perspective in Hubei Province," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 11548-11580, September.
    17. Xing Zhang & Jian Zhong & Huanfang Wang, 2023. "Does the Development of Digital Economy Affect Environmental Pollution?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    18. Minjie Li & Mengjun Meng & Yihui Chen, 2024. "The impact of the digital economy on green innovation: the moderating role of fiscal decentralization," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-33, April.
    19. Lu, Ling & Liu, Peng & Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng, 2023. "Digital inclusive finance and energy transition towards carbon neutrality: Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    20. Decai Tang & Ziqian Zhao & Jiannan Li & Valentina Boamah, 2024. "Research on coupling coordination degree of digital finance and economic resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 120(15), pages 14279-14309, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital economy; New urbanization; Spatial Durbin model (SDM); Spatial difference-in-differences (SDID); Spillover attenuation boundary;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O35 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Social Innovation
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecanpo:v:85:y:2025:i:c:p:818-834. 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.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.