IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v316y2025ics0360544225001379.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Harnessing the web: County-level perspectives on China's green economy

Author

Listed:
  • Tao, Miaomiao
  • Wang, Jianda

Abstract

Recognizing the pivotal role of Internet development in advancing green transition, we empirically investigate how Internet development may affect China's green economy at the county level from both linear and non-linear perspectives. The findings reveal that a 1-unit increase in the Internet development index correlates with an approximate 0.1487 rise in the county-level green development index. We further identify channels through which Internet development fosters green development, including financial agglomeration, structural adjustments, and entrepreneurial activities. Notably, the influence of Internet development on green economic performance is significantly conditioned by the cleanliness of county-level electricity sources. Additionally, the effects exhibit pronounced variations across economic zones, resource, and non-resource-based regions, different growth trajectories (growing, mature, declining, and regenerating counties), institutional quality, and levels of environmental regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Tao, Miaomiao & Wang, Jianda, 2025. "Harnessing the web: County-level perspectives on China's green economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:316:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225001379
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.134495
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225001379
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.134495?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. Olena Ivus & Matthew Boland, 2015. "The employment and wage impact of broadband deployment in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(5), pages 1803-1830, December.
    2. Li, Mengjie & Du, Weijian, 2021. "Can Internet development improve the energy efficiency of firms: Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    3. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    4. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    5. Anokhin, Sergey & Schulze, William S., 2009. "Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 465-476, September.
    6. Ding, Chante Jian & Chen, Hang & Liu, Yin & Hu, Jin & Hu, Mingjun & Chen, Dong & Irfan, Muhammad, 2024. "Unleashing digital empowerment: Pioneering low-carbon development through the broadband China strategy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    7. Ma, Dan & Tang, Jiaqi & Jiang, Xuemei, 2023. "Effects of digital global value chain participation on CO2 emissions embodied in digital exports: New evidence from PSTR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    8. 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).
    9. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    10. Sun, Yunpeng & Ajaz, Tahseen & Razzaq, Asif, 2022. "How infrastructure development and technical efficiency change caused resources consumption in BRICS countries: Analysis based on energy, transport, ICT, and financial infrastructure indices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Murad, Md. Wahid, 2020. "The impacts of economic growth, trade openness and technological progress on renewable energy use in organization for economic co-operation and development countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 382-390.
    12. Li, Huanjie & Zhang, Yuan & Li, Yan, 2024. "The impact of the digital economy on the total factor productivity of manufacturing firms: Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    13. Hanghang Dong & Miaomiao Tao & Jianda Wang & Giovanni Baiocchi, 2024. "How broadband infrastructure development impacts green innovation? A corporate financialization mediated perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 6881-6902, December.
    14. Sun, Huaping & Edziah, Bless Kofi & Sun, Chuanwang & Kporsu, Anthony Kwaku, 2019. "Institutional quality, green innovation and energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Salahuddin, Mohammad & Alam, Khorshed & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2016. "The effects of Internet usage and economic growth on CO2 emissions in OECD countries: A panel investigation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1226-1235.
    17. Ayoub Yousefi, 2011. "The impact of information and communication technology on economic growth: evidence from developed and developing countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 581-596, November.
    18. Zhang, Yu & Hu, Shan & Chen, Lingqiao, 2024. "Internet technology adoption and firm energy efficiency: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    19. Najarzadeh, Reza & Rahimzadeh, Farzad & Reed, Michael, 2014. "Does the Internet increase labor productivity? Evidence from a cross-country dynamic panel," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 986-993.
    20. Li, Xing & Yang, Gang & Shao, Tihang & Yang, Dan & Liu, Zimin, 2024. "Does digital infrastructure promote individual entrepreneurship? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment on the “Broadband China” strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    21. 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).
    22. Guo, Xiaoying & Lu, Ching-Cheng & Lee, Jen-Hui & Chiu, Yung-Ho, 2017. "Applying the dynamic DEA model to evaluate the energy efficiency of OECD countries and China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 392-399.
    23. Qu, Chenyao & Shao, Jun & Shi, Zhenkai, 2020. "Does financial agglomeration promote the increase of energy efficiency in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    24. Erik Brynjolfsson & Thomas W. Malone & Vijay Gurbaxani & Ajit Kambil, 1994. "Does Information Technology Lead to Smaller Firms?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(12), pages 1628-1644, December.
    25. Honma, Satoshi & Hu, Jin-Li, 2014. "A panel data parametric frontier technique for measuring total-factor energy efficiency: An application to Japanese regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 732-739.
    26. Zhao, Desen & Dou, Yao & Tong, Lu, 2022. "Effect of fiscal decentralization and dual environmental regulation on green poverty reduction: The case of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    27. Jianda Wang & Jun Zhao & Kangyin Dong & Xiucheng Dong, 2023. "How does the internet economy affect CO2 emissions? Evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 447-466, January.
    28. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    29. Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Song, Na, 2021. "The impact of ICT on economic growth-Comparing rich and poor countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    30. Yan, Yu & Huang, Junbing, 2022. "The role of population agglomeration played in China's carbon intensity: A city-level analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    31. Sanjeev Dewan & Kenneth L. Kraemer, 2000. "Information Technology and Productivity: Evidence from Country-Level Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 548-562, April.
    32. Liu, Haomin & Zhang, Zaixu & Zhang, Tao & Wang, Liyang, 2020. "Revisiting China’s provincial energy efficiency and its influencing factors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    33. Ai, Hongshan & Guan, Mengmeng & Feng, Wei & Li, Ke, 2021. "Influence of classified coal consumption on PM2.5 pollution: Analysis based on the panel cointegration and error-correction model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PA).
    34. T. S. Breusch & A. R. Pagan, 1980. "The Lagrange Multiplier Test and its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 239-253.
    35. Chen, Shiyi & Jin, Hao & Lu, Yulin, 2019. "Impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions and energy consumption structure: A panel data analysis for Chinese prefecture-level cities," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 107-119.
    36. Khanna, Rupika & Sharma, Chandan, 2021. "Do technological investments promote manufacturing productivity? A firm-level analysis for India," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    37. Nathan Nunn & Leonard Wantchekon, 2011. "The Slave Trade and the Origins of Mistrust in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3221-3252, December.
    38. Liu, Yajie & Cui, Lijuan & Xiong, Yanyan & Yao, Xianguo, 2023. "Does the development of the Internet improve the allocative efficiency of production factors? Evidence from surveys of Chinese manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 161-174.
    39. Fang, Zhen & Razzaq, Asif & Mohsin, Muhammad & Irfan, Muhammad, 2022. "Spatial spillovers and threshold effects of internet development and entrepreneurship on green innovation efficiency in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    40. Guo, Jia & Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe, 2024. "Internet development and entrepreneurship," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    41. Yahya, Farzan & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2023. "Disentangling the asymmetric effect of financialization on the green output gap," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    42. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    43. Jing Wang & Yubing Xu, 2021. "Internet Usage, Human Capital and CO 2 Emissions: A Global Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    44. Hong, Junjie & Shi, Fangyuan & Zheng, Yuhan, 2023. "Does network infrastructure construction reduce energy intensity? Based on the “Broadband China” strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    45. Harald Gruber & Pantelis Koutroumpis, 2011. "Mobile telecommunications and the impact on economic development [Discussion of “Why is infrastructure important?” in Alicia H. Munnell, (ed.), Is there a shortfall in public capital investment?]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(67), pages 387-426.
    46. Chiu, Yi-Bin & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2020. "Effects of financial development on energy consumption: The role of country risks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    47. 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).
    48. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:26:y:2011:i:67:p:387-426 is not listed on IDEAS
    49. Miaomiao Tao & Lim Thye Goh, 2023. "Effects of Carbon Trading Pilot on Carbon Emission Reduction: Evidence from China’s 283 Prefecture-Level Cities," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1), pages 1-24, January.
    50. Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning & Ren, Siyu & Xu, Lu & Chai, Jingxia & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu & Lu, Zhi-Nan, 2022. "The impact of internet development on the health of Chinese residents: Transmission mechanisms and empirical tests," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    51. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu & Tao, Dali, 2023. "Internet development and renewable energy technological innovation: Does institutional quality matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(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. Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
    54. 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.
    55. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:26:y:2011:i:67:p:387-426 is not listed on IDEAS
    56. Evgeniya Yushkova, 2014. "Impact of ICT on trade in different technology groups: analysis and implications," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 165-177, February.
    57. Xie, Rui & Fu, Wei & Yao, Siling & Zhang, Qi, 2021. "Effects of financial agglomeration on green total factor productivity in Chinese cities: Insights from an empirical spatial Durbin model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    58. Béchir Ben Lahouel & Lotfi Taleb & Shunsuke Managi & Khaled Guesmi, 2024. "The threshold effects of ICT on CO2 emissions: evidence from the MENA countries," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 26(2), pages 285-305, April.
    59. Zhang, Liangliang & Tao, Yunqing & Nie, Cong, 2022. "Does broadband infrastructure boost firm productivity? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    60. Karishma Banga, 2022. "Digital Technologies and Product Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Empirical Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 77-102, February.
    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. Luo, Yusen & Lu, Zhengnan & Wu, Chao, 2023. "Can internet development accelerate the green innovation efficiency convergence: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Liu, Yajie & Cui, Lijuan & Xiong, Yanyan & Yao, Xianguo, 2023. "Does the development of the Internet improve the allocative efficiency of production factors? Evidence from surveys of Chinese manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 161-174.
    3. 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).
    4. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2024. "The energy saving effects of digital infrastructure construction: Empirical evidence from Chinese industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu & Tao, Dali, 2023. "Internet development and renewable energy technological innovation: Does institutional quality matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Bakry, Walid & Nghiem, Xuan-Hoa & Farouk, Sherine & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2023. "Does it hurt or help? Revisiting the effects of ICT on economic growth and energy consumption: A nonlinear panel ARDL approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 597-617.
    9. Zhang, Caiqing & Chen, Panyu, 2022. "Applying the three-stage SBM-DEA model to evaluate energy efficiency and impact factors in RCEP countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    10. Yu, Binbin, 2022. "The Impact of the Internet on Industrial Green Productivity: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    11. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2022. "How does ICT agglomeration affect carbon emissions? The case of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Senhua Huang & Lingming Chen, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Urban Total-Factor Energy Efficiency: Evidence from 275 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    14. Guo, Bingnan & Hu, Peiji & Lin, Ji, 2024. "The effect of digital infrastructure development on enterprise green transformation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Zhao, Yueyang & Mao, Jinzhou, 2022. "Energy effects of non-energy policies: Minimum wage standard and enterprise energy efficiency in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. 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).
    17. Wei Jiang & Ke-Liang Wang & Zhuang Miao, 2024. "How does internet development affect urban eco-resilience: evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-40, April.
    18. Wang, Jianda & Guo, Dongsheng, 2023. "Siphon and radiation effects of ICT agglomeration on green total factor productivity: Evidence from a spatial Durbin model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    19. Osarumwense Osabuohien-Irabor & Igor Mikhailovich Drapkin, 2022. "The Impact of Technological Innovation on Energy Consumption in OECD Economies: the role of Outward Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade Openness," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 317-333, July.
    20. 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.

    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:energy:v:316:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225001379. 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/energy .

    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.