The Impact of Information Consumption Pilot Policy on Urban Land Green Use Efficiency: An Empirical Study from China

Information consumption has been reshaping the modes of human living and production, and driving the transformation of production and trade activities traditionally dependent on land resources, thus influencing urban land green use efficiency (ULGUE). Based on the panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2023, this study employs the national Information Consumption Pilot Policy (ICPP) as a quasi-natural experiment and utilizes a double machine learning model to assess the ICPP’s impacts on ULGUE. According to the results of the causal mediating effect analysis, the ICPP has improved ULGUE through three mediating mechanisms: expanding the scale of digital transactions, nurturing future industrial developments, and promoting green consumption behaviors. Moreover, in light of the results of the heterogeneity analysis, the ICPP’s impacts on ULGUE vary significantly. Such variation can primarily be attributed to differences in urban resource endowments, disparities in transportation infrastructure development, and variations in geographical location. Specifically, the ICPP has produced more prominent impacts on enhancing land green use efficiency in resource-based cities, cities with high-speed rail access, and coastal cities. Therefore, the government should proactively establish an urban information consumption environment, enhance the role of digital transactions, strategize future industrial developments, encourage green consumption behaviors, and differentiate local policies to effectively promote the continuous improvement of ULGUE.