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How digital economy index selection and model uncertainty will affect energy green transition

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  • Huang, Chenchen
  • Lin, Boqiang

Abstract

It remains unanswered if the existing findings in early studies are sensitive to the way of constructing the digital economy index, but this needs to be addressed to verify the effect of the energy green transition. Utilizing data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2013 and 2017, this empirical analysis is focused on four sustainable development topics (energy consumption, energy structure, energy efficiency, and green economy). The main findings include that (i) the choice of indexes affects the judgment of the relationship between the digital economy and green energy transformation, (ii) without an official index available, principal component analysis may become an optimization strategy to construct the digital economy index, and (iii) the optimized digital economy index verifies the positive role of digital economy in promoting green energy transition. This paper suggests that the actual effect of the digital economy on sustainable development can be more accurately identified through better construction of the digital economy index.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "How digital economy index selection and model uncertainty will affect energy green transition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:136:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324004821
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107774
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