IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v57y2024i5d10.1007_s10644-024-09745-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of digital infrastructure on carbon emissions: evidence from 284 cities in China

Author

Listed:
  • Li Deng

    (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
    Huizhou University)

  • Zhangqi Zhong

    (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of digital infrastructure on carbon emissions utilizing urban panel data spanning from 2007 to 2022 in China. The research findings reveal that digital infrastructure has mitigated carbon emissions in cities, with a more pronounced effect observed in eastern and northern regions. Notably, large cities and non-resource-based cities have reaped greater environmental benefits from digital infrastructure. Key mechanisms driving this reduction include lowering energy consumption, fostering green technological innovations, and enhancing factor allocation efficiency. Additionally, digital infrastructure construction exhibits a spatial spillover effect, where local digital infrastructure inhibits carbon emissions in neighboring cities. These discoveries offer insightful references for policymakers in planning the application of digital infrastructure to facilitate carbon reduction efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Deng & Zhangqi Zhong, 2024. "The impact of digital infrastructure on carbon emissions: evidence from 284 cities in China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1-38, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:57:y:2024:i:5:d:10.1007_s10644-024-09745-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-024-09745-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10644-024-09745-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10644-024-09745-3?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smyth, Russell & Narayan, Paresh Kumar, 2015. "Applied econometrics and implications for energy economics research," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 351-358.
    2. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Du, Yanan & Zhou, Jianping & Bai, Jiancheng & Cao, Yujia, 2023. "Breaking the resource curse: The perspective of improving carbon emission efficiency based on digital infrastructure construction," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    4. Ding, Tao & Li, Jiangyuan & Shi, Xing & Li, Xuhui & Chen, Ya, 2023. "Is artificial intelligence associated with carbon emissions reduction? Case of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Gong, Min & Zeng, Yidi & Zhang, Fan, 2023. "New infrastructure, optimization of resource allocation and upgrading of industrial structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    6. Eliana La Ferrara & Alberto Chong & Suzanne Duryea, 2012. "Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 1-31, October.
    7. Shang, Yuping & Raza, Syed Ali & Huo, Zhe & Shahzad, Umer & Zhao, Xin, 2023. "Does enterprise digital transformation contribute to the carbon emission reduction? Micro-level evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-13.
    8. Chen, Yufeng & Xu, Jing, 2023. "Digital transformation and firm cost stickiness: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Xu, Shengxiang & Chen, Hsinghung & Dong, Shuli & Guo, Zizheng, 2023. "Can upgrading information infrastructure improve the innovation ability of companies? Empirical evidence from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    10. Pan, Minjie & Zhao, Xin & lv, Kangjuan & Rosak-Szyrocka, Joanna & Mentel, Grzegorz & Truskolaski, Tadeusz, 2023. "Internet development and carbon emission-reduction in the era of digitalization: Where will resource-based cities go?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    12. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    13. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    14. Binswanger, Mathias, 2001. "Technological progress and sustainable development: what about the rebound effect?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 119-132, January.
    15. Liu, Qing & Lu, Yi, 2015. "Firm investment and exporting: Evidence from China's value-added tax reform," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 392-403.
    16. Xie, Peijun & Jamaani, Fouad, 2022. "Does green innovation, energy productivity and environmental taxes limit carbon emissions in developed economies: Implications for sustainable development," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 66-78.
    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. Ana Abeliansky & Klaus Prettner & Ernesto Rodríguez Crespo, 2024. "Climate change and automation: the emission effects of robot adoption," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp370, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.

    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. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    2. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Digital economy solutions towards carbon neutrality: The critical role of energy efficiency and energy structure transformation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    3. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu & Tao, Dali, 2023. "Internet development and renewable energy technological innovation: Does institutional quality matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    4. Wang, Ke-Liang & Sun, Ting-Ting & Xu, Ru-Yu & Miao, Zhuang & Cheng, Yun-He, 2022. "How does internet development promote urban green innovation efficiency? Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Zhang, Weike & Fan, Hongxia & Zhao, Qiwei, 2023. "Seeing green: How does digital infrastructure affect carbon emission intensity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    6. Li, Longda, 2024. "The environmental spillovers of buyers' digital transformation: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Liao, Kaicheng & Liu, Juan, 2024. "Digital infrastructure empowerment and urban carbon emissions: Evidence from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6).
    8. Feng, Yanchao & Liu, Gaoxiang & Meng, Xiangxu & Jiang, Kai & Huang, Rongbing & Zhang, Ci & Shi, Jiaxin & Pan, Yuxi, 2024. "How does digital government affect carbon intensity at the global level? New perspective of resource allocation optimization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Yi, Jiahui & Dai, Sheng & Li, Lin & Cheng, Jinhua, 2024. "How does digital economy development affect renewable energy innovation?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    11. Dong Xue & Tongyang Liu & Xiaomin Li & Xiaolei Zhao, 2023. "Can the Digital Economy Accelerate “Carbon Neutrality”?—An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-26, July.
    12. Pan, Minjie & Zhao, Xin & lv, Kangjuan & Rosak-Szyrocka, Joanna & Mentel, Grzegorz & Truskolaski, Tadeusz, 2023. "Internet development and carbon emission-reduction in the era of digitalization: Where will resource-based cities go?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Yingzi Chen & Wanwan Yang & Yaqi Hu, 2022. "Internet Development, Consumption Upgrading and Carbon Emissions—An Empirical Study from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Tang, Chang & Xue, Yan & Wu, Haitao & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does telecommunications infrastructure affect eco-efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. Wang, Qingxi & Hu, An & Tian, Zhihua, 2022. "Digital transformation and electricity consumption: Evidence from the Broadband China pilot policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2024. "The energy saving effects of digital infrastructure construction: Empirical evidence from Chinese industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    17. Ma, Dan & Zhu, Qing, 2022. "Innovation in emerging economies: Research on the digital economy driving high-quality green development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 801-813.
    18. Li, Chengyou & Zheng, Chunji & Liu, Mengxun & Wang, Zeru, 2024. "Digital economy spillover on energy saving and emission reduction: Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    19. Guo, Qing & You, Wenlan, 2024. "How can the digital economy alleviate multidimensional energy poverty? —Empirical evidence of 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    20. Xu, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of digital technology innovation on green total-factor energy efficiency in China: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).

    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:kap:ecopln:v:57:y:2024:i:5:d:10.1007_s10644-024-09745-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.