Digital Economy Development and Urban–Rural Integration in Northeast China: An Empirical Analysis

The imbalance between urban and rural development has increased socio-economic challenges. Urban–rural integration has become an important strategy for addressing disparities in development between urban and rural areas in China. The digital economy offers new opportunities to advance urban–rural integration. This study constructs an evaluation index system to assess the degree of urban–rural integration and examines the development of the digital economy in Northeast China from 2010 to 2020. It also studies the impact of the digital economy industry on urban–rural integration. The findings are as follows: (1) The development of the digital economy industry in Northeast China has a significant positive effect on urban–rural integration. (2) The influence of the digital economy industry on urban–rural integration varies across regions, with a stronger effect in areas with a moderate concentration of digital economy industries, non-border regions, and Jilin Province. (3) The facilitative effect of digital economy industries on urban–rural integration diminishes as urban economic levels rise, with two critical thresholds; after surpassing the first threshold, the promoting effect of the digital economy weakens noticeably, and after crossing the second threshold, the effect further declines. Based on these findings, the study offers policy recommendations. The research findings of this paper enrich the theoretical framework for urban–rural integration driven by the digital economy, provide a strong foundation for promoting the digital economy and urban–rural integration in Northeast China, and offer valuable empirical references for other regions exploring urban–rural integration pathways.