IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p2259-d1605905.html

A Study on the Spatial Effects of the Digital Economy on Regional Economic Growth in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yujie Shang

    (Department of East-Asia Studies, Graduate School, Pai Chai University, Daejeon 35337, Republic of Korea)

  • Hyukku Lee

    (Department of East-Asia Studies, Graduate School, Pai Chai University, Daejeon 35337, Republic of Korea)

  • Jinghao Ma

    (College of Economics & Management, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China)

Abstract

The burgeoning digital economy in China serves as a significant impetus for extensive economic growth across the nation. However, regional development within China remains imbalanced, and the issue of the digital divide cannot be overlooked. This paper is dedicated to examining the effect of the digital economy on the aggregate economic growth of China, along with a heterogeneity analysis. Using Chinese province-level data during the period of full entry into the mobile Internet era (2014–2022), this study first constructs a digital economic development index system. Using the entropy method, it calculates the digital economic index for 30 provinces in China during the 2014–2022 period. Subsequently, a panel regression model is utilized to explore how the digital economy impacts economic growth. Ultimately, the Durbin model gauges the digital economy’s spatial impact on economic expansion in China. The key findings are as follows: (1) The burgeoning digital economy in China has instigated substantial expansion of the national economy. However, its impact on economic growth gradually decreases from the eastern to the western regions. (2) China reveals a notable spatial relationship linking its digital economy and economic expansion. A distinct positive spatial relationship exists between the two. Additionally, the digital economy of China presents a positive spatial spillover effect regarding economic growth. The strongest manifestation of this effect is detected in the eastern region, trailed by the central region, and the western region displays the feeblest effect. Based on these findings, it is clear the digital economy plays a pivotal role in China’s economic growth. To expedite the high-quality development of the digital economy, the government could take additional steps. Specifically, it could enhance the construction of infrastructure related to the digital economy and increase investment in scientific and technological innovation resources. Enterprises can consider digital transformation to achieve the digital development of industries. In addition, considering the existence of the spatial spillover effect, the digital divide can be bridged and regional imbalances alleviated by enhancing coordinated regional development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yujie Shang & Hyukku Lee & Jinghao Ma, 2025. "A Study on the Spatial Effects of the Digital Economy on Regional Economic Growth in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2259-:d:1605905
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2259/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2259/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Yan & Tian, Zhihua & Li, Ding & Yang, Lili, 2020. "The regional Dutch disease effect within China: A spatial econometric investigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Carlsson, Bo, 2004. "The Digital Economy: what is new and what is not?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 245-264, September.
    3. Ran Xu & Yeong-Gil Kim & Chenglei Liang, 2024. "The Effect of Digitization on Economic Sustainable Growth in Shandong Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-21, August.
    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. Liu, Yanlong & Lian, Xu, 2025. "The spatial spillover effect of digital economy on regional tax Revenue: An empirical study based on the decay boundary and spillover path," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Jiang Lu & Soo Cheng Chuah & Chai Li Cheam, 2026. "Coupling and coordination of the digital economy and rural revitalisation in north–west China: a panel analysis from 2009 to 2023," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-49, March.
    3. Junjie Lu & Delong Xiao & Haiwei Fu, 2025. "The Reconstruction of China’s Population Mobility Pattern Under Digital Technology Evolution: A Pathway to Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Jing Huang & Kai Liu, 2025. "The Spatial Correlation Network of China’s Urban Digital Economy and Its Formation Mechanism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-21, June.

    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. Lingzhang Kong & Jinye Li, 2022. "Digital Economy Development and Green Economic Efficiency: Evidence from Province-Level Empirical Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Yao Zhao & Xuena Kong & Mahmood Ahmad & Zahoor Ahmed, 2023. "Digital Economy, Industrial Structure, and Environmental Quality: Assessing the Roles of Educational Investment, Green Innovation, and Economic Globalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Ran, Qiying & Yang, Xiaodong & Yan, Hongchuan & Xu, Yang & Cao, Jianhong, 2023. "Natural resource consumption and industrial green transformation: Does the digital economy matter?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Wei-Liang Zhang & Li-Ying Song & Muhammad Ilyas, 2023. "Can the digital economy promote fiscal effort?: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3501-3525, October.
    5. Zhu, Junpeng & Lin, Boqiang, 2022. "Resource dependence, market-oriented reform, and industrial transformation: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Li, Mengxu & Liu, Jianghua & Chen, Yang & Yang, Zhijiu, 2023. "Can sustainable development strategy reduce income inequality in resource-based regions? A natural resource dependence perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Xiao, Huijuan & Wang, Daoping & Qi, Yu & Shao, Shuai & Zhou, Ya & Shan, Yuli, 2021. "The governance-production nexus of eco-efficiency in Chinese resource-based cities: A two-stage network DEA approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Liu, Zhen & Li, Hua & Pan, Yuchen, 2025. "How do countries’ network positions in global digital service trade affect carbon emissions: a social network perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 511-528.
    9. Haitao Wu & Ruohan Zhong & Pinrui Guo & Yunxia Guo & Yu Hao, 2024. "The role of the digital economy in tourism: mechanism, causality and geospatial spillover," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 66(6), pages 2355-2395, June.
    10. Adel Ben Youssef & Ludovic Ragni, 2008. "Uses of Information and Communication Technologies in Europe's Higher Education Institutions: From Digital Divides to Digital Trajectories," Post-Print halshs-00937212, HAL.
    11. Zhengjie Tian & Suping Ma & Li Kong, 2025. "Spatial Pattern Evolution and Driving Factors of Digital Industry in the Yellow River Basin," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(4), pages 21582440251, October.
    12. Sun, Xiaohua & Ren, Junlin & Wang, Yun, 2022. "The impact of resource taxation on resource curse: Evidence from Chinese resource tax policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Li, Chengyu & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Peng, 2023. "Does the “resource curse” have a spatial spillover effect? Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Inhye Yoo & Chan-Goo Yi, 2022. "Economic Innovation Caused by Digital Transformation and Impact on Social Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Xuebin & Yang, Lili, 2023. "Natural resource dependence and urban shrinkage: The role of human capital accumulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Wuxin Zhang & Haiying Pan, 2024. "Pursuing Cleaner Skies: A Study on the Impact of China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law on Haze Pollution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Fengge Yao & Ying Song & Xiaomei Wang, 2023. "How the Digital Economy Empowers the Structural Upgrading of Cultural Industries—An Analysis Based on the Spatial Durbin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Rongrong Li & Qiang Wang & Zhuang Yang, 2025. "Natural Resource Rents and Energy Transition: Overcoming Barriers to Achieve Affordable and Clean Energy (Sustainable Development Goal 7)," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(S1), pages 757-786, November.
    19. Xu, Le & Yang, Lili & Li, Ding & Shao, Shuai, 2023. "Asymmetric effects of heterogeneous environmental standards on green technology innovation: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    20. Antun Fagarazzi, 2024. "Impact Of Digital Development Level On National Cybersecurity Index," Poslovna izvrsnost-Business Excellence, University of Zagreb Faculty of Economics & Business, vol. 18(2), pages 37-61.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2259-:d:1605905. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.