IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v198y2024ics0040162523006728.html

Effect of Digital Silk Road and innovation heterogeneity on digital economy growth across 29 countries: New evidence from PSM-DID

Author

Listed:
  • Ghimire, Amogh
  • Ali, Sajjad
  • Long, Xingle
  • Chen, Lili
  • Sun, Jiayi

Abstract

Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiated in 2015 aimed to foster industry collaboration within high-tech sectors. We compare different effects of the Digital Silk Road and innovation heterogeneity on digital economy growth between 9 treatment and 20 control countries via propensity score matching (PSM)-DID (difference-in-differences) methodology. The PSM-DID approach have the merits to address the differences biases between treatment and controlled groups, while embracing the complex dimensions of individual heterogeneity. Furthermore, we also explore the different effects of institutions innovation (INS), human capital and research innovation (HCR), infrastructure innovation (INF), market sophistication innovation (MAS), and business sophistication innovation (BUS) on the digital economy. Notably, the investigation also probes the interactions that transpire between human capital & research innovation and different innovation on the digital economy. The DID regression revealed that policy shock of DSR has exerted a discernibly positive effect on the digital economy. Infrastructure innovation improved digital economy. Human capital and research innovation also enhanced digital economy. Business sophistication innovation promotes the increase of the digital economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghimire, Amogh & Ali, Sajjad & Long, Xingle & Chen, Lili & Sun, Jiayi, 2024. "Effect of Digital Silk Road and innovation heterogeneity on digital economy growth across 29 countries: New evidence from PSM-DID," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:198:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523006728
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122987
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162523006728
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122987?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Hua & Xu, Tiantian & Feng, Chao, 2022. "Does public participation promote environmental efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of environmental information disclosure in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Kais Mtar & Walid Belazreg, 2021. "Causal Nexus Between Innovation, Financial Development, and Economic Growth: the Case of OECD Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(1), pages 310-341, March.
    3. Igor Linkov & Benjamin D. Trump & Kelsey Poinsatte-Jones & Marie-Valentine Florin, 2018. "Governance Strategies for a Sustainable Digital World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8, February.
    4. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    5. Shuzhong Ma & Jiwen Guo & Hongsheng Zhang, 2019. "Policy Analysis and Development Evaluation of Digital Trade: An International Comparison," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(3), pages 49-75, May.
    6. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    7. Xuehui Han & Jiaqi Su & Jang Ping Thia, 2021. "Impact of infrastructure investment on developed and developing economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 995-1024, November.
    8. Cainelli, Giulio & D’Amato, Alessio & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2020. "Resource efficient eco-innovations for a circular economy: Evidence from EU firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    9. Gruber, Harald, 2019. "Proposals for a digital industrial policy for Europe," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 116-127.
    10. Auboin, Marc & Koopman, Robert & Xu, Ankai, 2021. "Trade and innovation policies: Coexistence and spillovers," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 844-872.
    11. 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.
    12. Hoe Ee Khor & Chaipat Poonpatpibul & Suan Yong Foo, 2021. "Belt And Road Initiative: A Framework To Address Challenges And Unlock Potential For High-Quality And Inclusive Growth," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 66(01), pages 21-58, March.
    13. Watanabe, Chihiro & Tou, Yuji & Neittaanmäki, Pekka, 2018. "A new paradox of the digital economy - Structural sources of the limitation of GDP statistics," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 9-23.
    14. Hu, Yucai & Ren, Shenggang & Wang, Yangjie & Chen, Xiaohong, 2020. "Can carbon emission trading scheme achieve energy conservation and emission reduction? Evidence from the industrial sector in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Rana P. Maradana & Rudra P. Pradhan & Saurav Dash & Kunal Gaurav & Manju Jayakumar & Debaleena Chatterjee, 2017. "Does innovation promote economic growth? Evidence from European countries," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, December.
    16. Rudra P. Pradhan & Mak B. Arvin & Mahendhiran Nair & Sara E. Bennett, 2020. "Sustainable economic growth in the European Union: The role of ICT, venture capital, and innovation," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 34-62, January.
    17. Jia, Ruining & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili, 2021. "High-speed rail and CO2 emissions in urban China: A spatial difference-in-differences approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. Taewook Huh, 2020. "Comparative and Relational Trajectory of Economic Growth and Greenhouse Gas Emission: Coupled or Decoupled?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.
    19. Rashid Menhas & Shahid Mahmood & Papel Tanchangya & Muhammad Nabeel Safdar & Safdar Hussain, 2019. "Sustainable Development under Belt and Road Initiative: A Case Study of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s Socio-Economic Impact on Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-24, November.
    20. Zhiheng Wu & Guisheng Hou & Baogui Xin, 2020. "Has the Belt and Road Initiative Brought New Opportunities to Countries Along the Routes to Participate in Global Value Chains?," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    21. Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah & Khaled Hussainey, 2022. "Exploring the performance of responsible companies in G20 during the COVID-19 outbreak," Post-Print hal-03761427, HAL.
    22. Mansell, Robin, 2021. "Adjusting to the digital: societal outcomes and consequences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 111571, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Mansell, Robin, 2021. "Adjusting to the digital: Societal outcomes and consequences," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    24. Firth, Lucy & Mellor, David, 2000. "Learning and the new growth theories: policy dilemma," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1157-1163, December.
    25. Wang, Huijuan & Ding, Lin & Guan, Rong & Xia, Yan, 2020. "Effects of advancing internet technology on Chinese employment: a spatial study of inter-industry spillovers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    26. Yuan, Shengjun & Musibau, Hammed Oluwaseyi & Genç, Sema Yılmaz & Shaheen, Riffat & Ameen, Anam & Tan, Zhixiong, 2021. "Digitalization of economy is the key factor behind fourth industrial revolution: How G7 countries are overcoming with the financing issues?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    27. Paul M. Romer, 1994. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Ge & Guo, Bingnan, 2025. "The Impact of green finance reform on firms' patent quality: An empirical study from Chinese listed manufacturing firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1695-1705.
    2. Han, Guanzhe & Li, Fenglei, 2025. "Digital economy of trading partner countries, outward investment, and cross-border E-commerce exports," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    3. Zhao, Mingtao & Fu, Xuebao & Cui, Lianbiao & Zhu, Hailong & Zhang, Huanming, 2025. "Impact and improvement pathways of intelligent transformation on enterprise green technology innovation under renewable energy substitution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 392(C).
    4. Shen, Li & Zhang, Lishu & Jiang, Yuanyuan & Wang, Sen, 2025. "Can the development of digital finance enhance the quality of export products? An analysis based on heterogeneity and moderating effects," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Zongyue He & Yanhong Zhang & Xiqian Wang, 2024. "Has the Development of Broadband Infrastructure Improved Household Energy Consumption in Rural China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Xu, Zhen, 2025. "The new driving force for improving tourism resource allocation efficiency: The mechanism of digital finance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PC).
    7. Ye, Anping & Hu, Yu-Jie & Tang, Bao-Jun & Wang, Ting & Tao, Yao, 2026. "Optimizing economy-energy-environment (3Es) policy mixes for decarbonization: Synergies, trade-offs, and regional implementation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    8. Yang, Jingna & Zhou, Kaile, 2025. "The impact of trans-regional power transmission on urban energy system resilience in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    9. Sun, Guanglin & Fang, Jiming & Li, Jinning & Wang, Xiaolin, 2024. "Research on the impact of the integration of digital economy and real economy on enterprise green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Wang, Jingyi & Guan, Hongjun & Zhao, Aiwu, 2024. "Regional productivity in the energy structure transition of the Yellow River Basin in China - estimation based on a restricted cost function," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    11. Qi, Limuge & Yang, Lan & Ta, Mier, 2025. "The impact of digital economy on regional resource allocation efficiency: an analysis based on resource flow speed and direction," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Yan Song & Lu Zhang & Xueying Dong & Ming Zhang, 2025. "Can environmental regulation foster incremental enhancement and quality improvement in green technological innovation under the background of the digital development?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(11), pages 27781-27797, November.
    13. Huo, Xiuzhen & Dong, Yuanyuan, 2025. "From market segmentation to consumption growth: How does digital-real integration strengthen the consumption stimulation effect in a unified national market?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    14. Meng, Qingshen & Fang, Xing & Hou, Zhengdong, 2025. "Digital silk road, financial investment, and low-carbon cultural tourism development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PF).
    15. Zhao, Mingtao & Fu, Xuebao & Sun, Jun & Wang, ZhenZhen & Wang, HongJiu & Lu, Suwan & Cui, Lianbiao, 2025. "Optimal strategy of artificial intelligence on low-carbon energy transformation: Perspective from enterprise green technology innovation efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    16. Li, Minyang & Du, Anna Min & Wang, Siquan & Lin, Boqiang, 2025. "Better financing: Signal match between growth in the digital economy and renewable energy business," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PA).
    17. Jiao Ma, 2024. "Carbon emissions and low-carbon innovation in firms," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(10), pages 1-19, October.

    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. Hernández de Rojas, Félix & Pita, Pilar Rodríguez & Pérez Martínez, Jorge Emiliano, 2024. "Assessing the European association between digitalization and innovation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7).
    2. Nguyen, Canh Phuc & Doytch, Nadia, 2022. "The impact of ICT patents on economic growth: An international evidence," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    3. Kais Mtar & Walid Belazreg, 2023. "On the nexus of innovation, trade openness, financial development and economic growth in European countries: New perspective from a GMM panel VAR approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 766-791, January.
    4. Chen, Lifeng & Wang, Kaifeng, 2022. "The spatial spillover effect of low-carbon city pilot scheme on green efficiency in China's cities: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Chu, Zhaopeng & Chen, Xin & Yang, Jun, 2025. "Impact of data factor and data integration on economic development: Empirical insights from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    6. Julia Varlamova & Ekaterina Kadochnikova, 2023. "Modeling the Spatial Effects of Digital Data Economy on Regional Economic Growth: SAR, SEM and SAC Models," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-31, August.
    7. Sayef Bakari, 2024. "The Impact of Innovation and Economic Growth in Developed Countries," Economic Research Guardian, Mutascu Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 32-54, June.
    8. Sajjad Ali & Amogh Ghimire & Xingle Long & Lili Chen, 2025. "Will more multinational corporations inflow approach closer toward carbon neutrality? Novel propensity score matching‐difference‐in‐difference evidence across 35 developing countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 1625-1642, February.
    9. Pinar, Mehmet & Karahasan, Burhan Can, 2026. "Heterogeneous impact of innovation on economic development: Evidence from EU regions," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Maha Mohamed Alsebai Mohamed & Pingfeng Liu & Guihua Nie, 2022. "Causality between Technological Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Economies of Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-39, March.
    11. Abida Hafeez & Karim Bux Shah Syed & Fiza Qureshi, 2019. "Exploring the Relationship between Government R & D Expenditures and Economic Growth in a Global Perspective: A PMG Estimation Approach," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(4), pages 163-174, April.
    12. Shiyuan Pan & Heng-fu Zou & Tailong Li, 2010. "Patent Protection, Technological Change and Wage Inequality," CEMA Working Papers 437, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    13. Bin Amin, Sakib & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Khan, Farhan & Manal Rahman, Faria, 2024. "Does technology have a lead or lag role in economic growth? The case of selected resource-rich and resource-scarce countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Asongu, Simplice & Boateng, Agyenim & Akamavi, Raphael, 2016. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 75046, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Anupam Jena & Casey Mulligan & Tomas J. Philipson & Eric Sun, 2008. "The Value of Life in General Equilibrium," NBER Working Papers 14157, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Jordi Pons-Novell & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 1999. "Kaldor's Laws and Spatial Dependence: Evidence for the European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 443-451.
    17. Danny Quah, 1996. "Twin Peaks: Growth and Convergence in Models of Distribution Dynamics," CEP Discussion Papers dp0280, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Viengsaythong DALASENG & NIU Xiongying & Khaysy SRITHILAT, 2022. "Cross- Country Investigation of the Impact of Trade Openness and FDI on Economic Growth: A Case of Developing Countries," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 9(1), pages 49-73.
    19. Amol M. Joshi & Todd M. Inouye & Jeffrey A. Robinson, 2018. "How does agency workforce diversity influence Federal R&D funding of minority and women technology entrepreneurs? An analysis of the SBIR and STTR programs, 2001–2011," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 499-519, March.
    20. Steve Dowrick, 1994. "Openness and Growth," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Philip Lowe & Jacqueline Dwyer (ed.),International Intergration of the Australian Economy, Reserve Bank of Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:tefoso:v:198:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523006728. 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.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.