IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3384-d1632097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Analysis of the Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of the Coupling Coordination Degree Between the Digital and Real Economies in China

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoya Li

    (Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Min Zhao

    (Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Guang Yang

    (School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China)

  • Xue Xu

    (Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Pengfei Fan

    (Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation and Development Corporation, Nanjing 210019, China)

Abstract

The digital economy (DE) and real economy (RE) are dual pillars of the modern economic system. The deep integration of the digital economy and real economy (IDR) has emerged as a pivotal strategic trend. IDR not only can enhance international competitiveness but also contributes to sustainable development goals. This work collects DE and RE data from 30 provinces in China between 2012 and 2022. The entropy weight method and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model are employed to measure the level of IDR. Furthermore, the Dagum Gini coefficient, Kernel density estimation, the spatial autocorrelation model, and the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model are utilized to analyze the spatial–temporal evolution and influencing factors of CCD. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) During the study period, CCD shows an upward trend, but the value is relatively low. (2) There are significant spatial differences in CCD, and the inter-regional difference is the primary cause. (3) The regional differences in CCD are continuously widening. (4) CCD shows an obvious global spatial agglomeration feature, and the spatial agglomeration degree of CCD has been enhanced from 2012 to 2022. (5) The policy intensity, digital infrastructure, industrial structure, human capital, technological innovation, and market environment have significant impacts on CCD. The obtained findings provide important theoretical support for the coordinated development of DE and RE.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoya Li & Min Zhao & Guang Yang & Xue Xu & Pengfei Fan, 2025. "An Analysis of the Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of the Coupling Coordination Degree Between the Digital and Real Economies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3384-:d:1632097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3384/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3384/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sun, Guanglin & Yin, Ding & Kong, Tao & Yin, Lei, 2024. "The impact of the integration of the digital economy and the real economy on the risk of stock price collapse," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. 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).
    3. Dagum, Camilo, 1997. "A New Approach to the Decomposition of the Gini Income Inequality Ratio," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 515-531.
    4. Anselin, Luc & Getis, Arthur, 1992. "Spatial Statistical Analysis and Geographic Information Systems," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 26(1), pages 19-33, April.
    5. Liu, Baoliu & Huang, Yujie & Chen, Mengmei & Lan, Zirui, 2024. "Towards sustainability: How does the digital-real integration affect regional green development efficiency?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 42-59.
    6. Cheng, Yiran & Zhou, Xiaorui & Li, Yongjian, 2023. "The effect of digital transformation on real economy enterprises’ total factor productivity," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 488-501.
    7. Jiang, Qian & Zhang, Chaoshuai & Wei, Qianqing, 2025. "Digital technology adoption and enterprise investment efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Wang, Yafei & Shi, Ming & Liu, Junnan & Zhong, Min & Ran, Rong, 2025. "The impact of digital-real integration on energy productivity under a multi-governance framework: The mediating role of AI and embodied technological progress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yin, Lei & Sun, Guanglin & Kong, Tao, 2025. "Regional big data development and corporate financial fraud," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Ge, Shilong & Luo, Xiaodan & Li, Yuangang & Zheng, Lanxing, 2024. "The impact of green credit policy on total factor productivity of enterprises," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Sun, Guanglin & Wang, Jiawei & Ai, Yongfang, 2024. "The impact of government green subsidies on stock price crash risk," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Qian, Yifan, 2025. "Public data openness and corporate total factor productivity," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 733-753.
    5. Xianmin Li & Shixiang Li & Qiaosheng Wu & Jinhua Cheng, 2025. "Influence Mechanism of Digital Economy on Urban Green Development Efficiency: A Perspective on New Quality Productive Forces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Tang, Li & Zhang, Teng & Wang, Jinglang & Liu, Baoliu & Huang, Yujie, 2025. "“Dual synergistic” transformation and corporate total factor productivity: Empirical evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 717-732.
    7. Li, Yiping & Zheng, Lanxing & Xie, Chang & Fang, Jiming, 2024. "Big data development and enterprise ESG performance: Empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 742-755.
    8. Liu, Baoliu & Huang, Yujie & Chen, Mengmei & Lan, Zirui, 2024. "Towards sustainability: How does the digital-real integration affect regional green development efficiency?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 42-59.
    9. Sun, Guanglin & Yin, Ding & Kong, Tao & Yin, Lei, 2024. "The impact of the integration of the digital economy and the real economy on the risk of stock price collapse," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Ruizhi Liu & Mengwei Hou & Ruifeng Jing & Alexandra Bauer & Mark Wu, 2024. "The Impact of National Big Data Pilot Zones on the Persistence of Green Innovation: A Moderating Perspective Based on Green Finance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-28, November.
    11. Zhang, Cheng & Fang, Jiming & Ge, Shilong & Sun, Guanglin, 2024. "Research on the impact of enterprise digital transformation on carbon emissions in the manufacturing industry," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 211-227.
    12. Tang, Lingbing & Li, Ming, 2025. "Is financial digitalization an effective strategy to prevent stock price crash?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Wang, Haijun & Du, Xiance & Ge, Chen & Wu, Wanting, 2024. "Does digital credit alleviate household income vulnerability?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Geng, Haipeng & Wang, Junkai & Su, Zhongfeng & Tan, Yi & Huang, Shihan, 2025. "Analysts' initial coverage and stock price crashes," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    15. Chen, Tianyu & Yin, Ding & Li, Xinghua & Xu, Xuegao, 2025. "Media attention, information asymmetry and agribusiness ESG rating divergence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Tianchu Feng & Andrea Appolloni & Jiayu Chen, 2024. "How does corporate digital transformation affect carbon productivity? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 31425-31445, December.
    17. repec:uta:papers:2019_08 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Xinyue Ye & Sergio Rey, 2013. "A framework for exploratory space-time analysis of economic data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 315-339, February.
    19. Stéphane Mussard & Kuan Xu, 2006. "Multidimensional Decomposition of the Sen Index: Some Further Thoughts," Cahiers de recherche 06-08, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    20. Lei, Hao & Gao, Renyuan & Ning, Chutong & Sun, Guanglin, 2025. "Green finance and corporate green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    21. Charles Condevaux & Stéphane Mussard & Téa Ouraga & Guillaume Zambrano, 2020. "Generalized Gini linear and quadratic discriminant analyses," METRON, Springer;Sapienza Università di Roma, vol. 78(2), pages 219-236, August.

    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:8:p:3384-:d:1632097. 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 (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.