IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0303782.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital economy and urban economic resilience: The mediating role of technological innovation and entrepreneurial vitality

Author

Listed:
  • Suping Xiao
  • Ping Zhou
  • Lin Zhou
  • Sike Wong

Abstract

Drawing on the diffusion of innovation theory, we argue that the development of digital economy has a positive effect on urban economic resilience. Using panel data from 284 cities in China from 2011 to 2018, we empirically examine the relationship between digital economy and urban economic resilience. We find a positive and significant link between them, mediated by technological innovation and entrepreneurial vitality. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of digital economy is most pronounced in smaller cities, with its effects diminishing in larger cities and megacities. Our results underscore the importance and the direction of fostering digital economy development.

Suggested Citation

  • Suping Xiao & Ping Zhou & Lin Zhou & Sike Wong, 2024. "Digital economy and urban economic resilience: The mediating role of technological innovation and entrepreneurial vitality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0303782
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303782
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0303782
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0303782&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0303782?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Silvia Rocchetta & Andrea Mina, 2019. "Technological coherence and the adaptive resilience of regional economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(10), pages 1421-1434, October.
    2. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    3. Jean-Michel Sahut & Luca Iandoli & Frédéric Teulon, 2021. "The age of digital entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1159-1169, February.
    4. Mingdou Zhang & Qingbang Wu & Weilu Li & Dongqi Sun & Fei Huang, 2021. "Intensifier of urban economic resilience: Specialized or diversified agglomeration?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, November.
    5. Andrew Petersen, J. & Paulich, Brianna JeeWon & Khodakarami, Farnoosh & Spyropoulou, Stavroula & Kumar, V., 2022. "Customer-based execution strategy in a global digital economy," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 566-582.
    6. Zaheer Allam & David Jones, 2019. "Climate Change and Economic Resilience through Urban and Cultural Heritage: The Case of Emerging Small Island Developing States Economies," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Morteza Ghobakhloo, 2020. "Determinants of information and digital technology implementation for smart manufacturing," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(8), pages 2384-2405, April.
    8. Xuliang Zhang & Chenxiang Elaine Ji & Haixia Zhang & Yuchen Wei & Jianwei Jin, 2023. "On the Role of the Digital Industry in Reshaping Urban Economic Structure: the Case of Hangzhou, China," Journal of Economic Analysis, Anser Press, vol. 2(4), pages 123-139, July.
    9. Dormady, Noah C. & Rose, Adam & Roa-Henriquez, Alfredo & Morin, C. Blain, 2022. "The cost-effectiveness of economic resilience," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    10. Gillian Bristow & Adrian Healy, 2018. "Innovation and regional economic resilience: an exploratory analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 60(2), pages 265-284, March.
    11. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Marco Modica, 2019. "Industrial relatedness and regional resilience in the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(2), pages 755-778, April.
    12. Gauri, Dinesh K. & Jindal, Rupinder P. & Ratchford, Brian & Fox, Edward & Bhatnagar, Amit & Pandey, Aashish & Navallo, Jonathan R. & Fogarty, John & Carr, Stephen & Howerton, Eric, 2021. "Evolution of retail formats: Past, present, and future," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 42-61.
    13. Xuefeng Zheng & Xiufan Zhang & Decheng Fan, 2023. "Digital transformation, industrial structure change, and economic growth motivation: An empirical analysis based on manufacturing industry in Yangtze River Delta," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(5), pages 1-27, May.
    14. Canh, Nguyen Phuc & Thanh, Su Dinh, 2020. "Domestic tourism spending and economic vulnerability," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Dahesh, Mehran Badin & Tabarsa, Gholamali & Zandieh, Mostafa & Hamidizadeh, Mohammadreza, 2020. "Reviewing the intellectual structure and evolution of the innovation systems approach: A social network analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    16. Zhenxing Tian & Ying Li & Xiaogeng Niu & Meiyu Liu, 2023. "The impact of digital economy on regional technological innovation capability: An analysis based on China’s provincial panel data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(7), pages 1-17, July.
    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. Jianqi Zhang, 2025. "Digital economy, green finance, and economic resilience," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(2), pages 1-24, February.

    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. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Marco Modica, 2019. "Does related variety affect regional resilience? New evidence from Italy," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 62(3), pages 657-680, June.
    2. Gergő Tóth & Zoltán Elekes & Adam Whittle & Changjun Lee & Dieter F. Kogler, 2022. "Technology Network Structure Conditions the Economic Resilience of Regions," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 98(4), pages 355-378, August.
    3. Zhou, Qin & Cheng, Changgao & Fang, Zhou & Zhang, Hengquan & Xu, Yining, 2024. "How does the development of the digital economy affect innovation output? Exploring mechanisms from the perspective of regional innovation systems," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-17.
    4. Xiaojing Li & Jing Chen, 2023. "Global or Local Spatial Spillovers? Industrial Diversity and Economic Resilience in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Urban Agglomeration, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Mathieu P A Steijn & Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & David L Rigby, 2023. "Technological diversification of U.S. cities during the great historical crises," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(6), pages 1303-1344.
    6. Xiekui Zhang & Tongsheng Tang & Erhang Mo, 2024. "Can urban e-commerce transformation improve economic resilience? a quasi-natural experiment from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(5), pages 1-21, May.
    7. George J. XANTHOS & Evangelos N. DULUFAKIS, 2023. "Measurement Approaches Of Regional Economic Resilience: A Literature Review," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(2), pages 47-59, June.
    8. Straulino, Daniel & Diodato, Dario & O’Clery, Neave, 2024. "Economic crisis, urban structural change and inter-sectoral labour mobility," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 135-144.
    9. Anping Chen & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2022. "Regional Resilience in China: The Response of the Provinces to the Growth Slowdown," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 74-103.
    10. Chenhuan Kou & Donghan Meng & Xiuli Yang, 2024. "Construction and application of economic resilience evaluation model for megacities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(5), pages 1-28, May.
    11. Hasan Engin Duran & Ugo Fratesi, 2023. "Economic resilience and regionally differentiated cycles: Evidence from a turning point approach in Italy," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(2), pages 219-252, April.
    12. Xu, Shulin & Zhong, Min & Wang, Yan, 2024. "Can innovative industrial clusters enhance urban economic resilience? A quasi-natural experiment based on an innovative pilot policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    13. Olena Khlystova & Yelena Kalyuzhnova, 2023. "The impact of the creative industries and digitalization on regional resilience and productive entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1654-1695, October.
    14. Marianne Sensier & Elvira Uyarra, 2020. "Investigating the Governance Mechanisms that Sustain Regional Economic Resilience and Inclusive Growth," Economics Discussion Paper Series 2005, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    15. Andrea Filippetti & Petros Gkotsis & Antonio Vezzani & Antonio Zinilli, 2020. "Are innovative regions more resilient? Evidence from Europe in 2008–2016," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 807-832, October.
    16. Kitsos, Anastasios & Grabner, Simone Maria & Incera, Andre Carrascal, 2022. "The role of embeddedness in regional economic resistance," SocArXiv b759j, Center for Open Science.
    17. Du, Yanan & Wang, Qingxi & Zhou, Jianping, 2023. "How does digital inclusive finance affect economic resilience: Evidence from 285 cities in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Gary A. Wagner & Timothy M. Komarek, 2023. "How does municipal governance structure affect innovation and knowledge diffusion? Evidence from U.S. metro areas," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 287-330, September.
    19. repec:osf:socarx:b759j_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Sui Tian & Yiran He, 2025. "The impact of digital industry development on regional economic resilience: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(2), pages 1-23, February.
    21. Liping Liao & Minzhe Du & Jie Huang, 2022. "The Effect of Urban Resilience on Residents’ Subjective Happiness: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, October.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0303782. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.