Impact of natural resource dependence on green technology development: Role of digital governance in mitigating resource-curse using big data

The pursuit of a green economy as a strategy to counteract the “resource curse' phenomenon represents a burgeoning paradigm shift. A sophisticated digital governance infrastructure is vital, serving as an integral mechanism for ensuring transparency, enhancing data efficacy, and fostering public involvement—all crucial components of sustainable environmental stewardship. In light of this context, our analysis examines the interplay between natural resource dependence and green technological innovation, as well as delineating the potential pathways interlinking the two, through an empirical assessment using provincial data from China spanning the years 2011–2021. Employing advanced techniques in big data text mining, we have devised a government digital transformation index calibrated to elucidate the impacts of digitalization on the twin variables of natural resource reliance and the propagation of green technologies. Our findings indicate a marked deleterious influence of natural resource dependence on the evolution of green technological initiatives at the regional level, a trend most pronounced in China's central and western provinces as well as in locales with comparatively low economic development metrics. Furthermore, our research ascertains that the impeding force of natural resource dependence on green technology ascension is primarily exercised through diminished regional research and development capabilities, stagnation of industrial structure progression, and limited openness to external economic integration. Finally, the study posits that the implementation of digital governance measures holds the capability to substantially mitigate the restrictive impact of natural resource dependence on green technology advancement. This underscores the imperative for a digital governance architecture that actively neutralizes and meticulously monitors the adverse outcomes associated with resource consumption.