Antidote or poison? Digital economy and land-use

Improved land-use eco-efficiency promotes intensified low-carbon practices, directly reducing emissions and enhancing ecological protection, carbon sequestration, and carbon neutrality. The digital economy can potentially promote environmentally friendly, low-carbon growth while ensuring the ecological integrity of land use. However, insufficient consideration has been poured into the effect of digital-economy development on land-use eco-efficiency. Using city-level data from China’s Yellow River Basin, this study reveals the digital economy’s direct effect on land-use eco-efficiency while also examining its indirect and nonlinear effects. The baseline model suggests that the digital economy improves land-use eco-efficiency. However, considering the presence of a rebound effect, technological innovations driven by the digital economy have a mitigating influence on land-use eco-efficiency. Furthermore, industrial-structure consolidation creates a situation in which industrial improvements initiated by the digital economy do not significantly contribute to improving land-use eco-efficiency. What’s more, there is a dynamic, nonlinear relationship between the digital economy and land-use eco-efficiency. Our research highlights the importance of the digital economy in shaping land-use eco-efficiency. Policymakers should consider such dynamics when promoting digital-economy growth and sustainable land-use practices.