IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v16y2025i3d10.1007_s13132-024-02355-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital Technology, Green Innovation, and High-Quality Economic Development: Mechanism Analysis and Empirical Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Jiazhan Gao

    (Nanjing Normal University
    Jiangsu Normal University)

  • Guihong Hua

    (Nanjing Normal University)

  • Baofeng Huo

    (Zhejiang University)

Abstract

Digital technology (DT) represents a new impetus for high-quality economic development (HQD). This research analyzes panel data spanning from 2011 to 2020 across 278 prefecture-level and above cities in China. The empirical investigation is conducted using fixed effects models and threshold models to explore how DT influences HQD. The findings elucidate several critical insights: DT significantly contributes to the enhancement of economic quality, a conclusion that remains robust after a series of rigorous robustness checks. The influence of DT on HQD varies across different dimensions, with the impact of digital infrastructure being the most significant, whereas the effect of DT innovation is comparatively weaker. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that in cities in the eastern region, the promotional role of DT is more pronounced, and the increase in per capita education levels and investment in physical capital further amplifies this effect. Mechanism analysis reveals that optimizing factor allocation, green innovation, and entrepreneurial vitality play pivotal roles in the process of DT facilitating HQD. We have identified single thresholds for industrial structure transformation and upgrading, as well as green innovation, through threshold model analysis. This study proposes an analytical framework that provides policy guidance for exploring effective pathways to leverage DT in promoting China’s HQD.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiazhan Gao & Guihong Hua & Baofeng Huo, 2025. "Digital Technology, Green Innovation, and High-Quality Economic Development: Mechanism Analysis and Empirical Evidence," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 12011-12047, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02355-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02355-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-02355-4
    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/s13132-024-02355-4?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & Daniel Rock & Chad Syverson, 2021. "The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement General Purpose Technologies," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 333-372, January.
    2. Teece, David J., 2018. "Profiting from innovation in the digital economy: Enabling technologies, standards, and licensing models in the wireless world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1367-1387.
    3. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-351, March.
    4. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2018. "The Race between Man and Machine: Implications of Technology for Growth, Factor Shares, and Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1488-1542, June.
    6. Arik Levinson, 2009. "Technology, International Trade, and Pollution from US Manufacturing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2177-2192, December.
    7. King, Robert G. & Levine, Ross, 1993. "Finance, entrepreneurship and growth: Theory and evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 513-542, December.
    8. Rippa, Pierluigi & Secundo, Giustina, 2019. "Digital academic entrepreneurship: The potential of digital technologies on academic entrepreneurship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 900-911.
    9. Solow, John L, 1987. "The Capital-Energy Complementarity Debate Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 605-614, September.
    10. Wen Chen & Ying Wu, 2022. "Does intellectual property protection stimulate digital economy development?," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 723-730, December.
    11. Martínez-Caro, Eva & Cegarra-Navarro, Juan Gabriel & Alfonso-Ruiz, Francisco Javier, 2020. "Digital technologies and firm performance: The role of digital organisational culture," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Yu & Zhang, Hao & Liang, Chunyan & Feng, Yu & Hu, Feng, 2023. "Impact of the digital economy on high-quality urban economic development: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Jafari-Sadeghi, Vahid & Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Candelo, Elena & Couturier, Jerome, 2021. "Exploring the impact of digital transformation on technology entrepreneurship and technological market expansion: The role of technology readiness, exploration and exploitation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 100-111.
    14. Daran Cai & Jin Hu & Hongtao Jiang & Fengyi Ai & Tingting Bai, 2023. "Research on the relationship between defense technology innovation and high‐quality economic development: Gray correlation analysis based on panel data," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(7), pages 3867-3877, October.
    15. Yang, Yuxue & Su, Xiang & Yao, Shuangliang, 2021. "Nexus between green finance, fintech, and high-quality economic development: Empirical evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Li, Huanli & Wu, Yun & Cao, Dongmei & Wang, Yichuan, 2021. "Organizational mindfulness towards digital transformation as a prerequisite of information processing capability to achieve market agility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 700-712.
    17. Guo Yu & Xiaobo Zhou, 2023. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: The influence and countermeasures of digital economy on cultivating new driving force of high-quality economic development in Henan Province under the background of "double cir," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 326(1), pages 31-31, July.
    18. Broccardo, Laura & Zicari, Adrián & Jabeen, Fauzia & Bhatti, Zeeshan A., 2023. "How digitalization supports a sustainable business model: A literature review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    19. Hong Nham, Nguyen Thi & Ha, Le Thanh, 2022. "Making the circular economy digital or the digital economy circular? Empirical evidence from the European region," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Kraemer, Kenneth L. & Dedrick, Jason, 1994. "Payoffs from investment in information technology: Lessons from the Asia-Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(12), pages 1921-1931, December.
    21. Chauhan, Chetna & Parida, Vinit & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Linking circular economy and digitalisation technologies: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    22. Zhang, Zhongqingyang & Mao, Ruixiang & Zhou, Zhongbao & Zeng, Zhijian, 2023. "How does digital finance affect green innovation? City-level evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    23. Hasan, Iftekhar & Tucci, Christopher L., 2010. "The innovation-economic growth nexus: Global evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1264-1276, December.
    24. Elitsa R Banalieva & Charles Dhanaraj, 2019. "Internalization theory for the digital economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1372-1387, October.
    25. Frederik von Briel & Per Davidsson & Jan Recker, 2018. "Digital Technologies as External Enablers of New Venture Creation in the IT Hardware Sector," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 47-69, January.
    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. Pan, Junyu & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Zhao, Xin & Liu, Xiaoqian, 2024. "Unlocking the impact of digital technology progress and entry dynamics on firm's total factor productivity in Chinese industries," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    2. Hu, Jinjin & Huo, Dong & Wu, Delin, 2024. "Digital economy development and venture capital networks: Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    3. Yáñez-Valdés, Claudia & Guerrero, Maribel & Barros-Celume, Sebastián & Ibáñez, María J., 2023. "Winds of change due to global lockdowns: Refreshing digital social entrepreneurship research paradigm," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Huang, Yuhong & Gao, Yajia, 2024. "The impact of financial technology on employment: Protection or disruption?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    5. Zahra, Shaker A. & Liu, Wan & Si, Steven, 2023. "How digital technology promotes entrepreneurship in ecosystems," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Parteka, Aleksandra & Kordalska, Aleksandra, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and productivity: global evidence from AI patent and bibliometric data," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Akram, Rabia & Li, Qiyuan & Srivastava, Mohit & Zheng, Yulu & Irfan, Muhammad, 2024. "Nexus between green technology innovation and climate policy uncertainty: Unleashing the role of artificial intelligence in an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    8. Xing Liu & Shaobo Hong & Zhi Su & Yuanren Zhou, 2025. "The Impact of Digital Transformation on High-Quality Development of Manufacturing Enterprises: An Integrated Perspective on Efficiency and Social Responsibility," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-36, February.
    9. Lyu, Yanwei & Xiao, Xuan & Zhang, Jinning, 2024. "Does the digital economy enhance green total factor productivity in China? The evidence from a national big data comprehensive pilot zone," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 183-196.
    10. Hu, Jinjin & Huo, Dong & Wu, Delin & Yang, Chunhong, 2025. "The effect of corporate agglomeration networks on breakthrough innovation—Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    11. Rana P. Maradana & Rudra P. Pradhan & Saurav Dash & Kunal Gaurav & Manju Jayakumar & Debaleena Chatterjee, 2017. "Does innovation promote economic growth? Evidence from European countries," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, December.
    12. Guo, Bin & Zhang, Jiale & Tan, Ziyan, 2024. "Firm digitalization as strategic response: An integrated model based on the awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Shan Zhu & Jiuyu Dong, 2025. "The Influence of Foreign Ownership on Firm’s Digital Orientation: Evidence from China," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 673-698, August.
    14. Verma, Pratima & Kumar, Vimal & Yalcin, Haydar & Daim, Tugrul, 2023. "Organizational architecture of strategic entrepreneurial firms for digital transformation: A bibliometric analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Jiehui Zhang & Sen Yang & Yifeng Wang, 2024. "How does the level of enterprise digitalization affect value creation and realization? Testing of the dual path of "based on breakthrough" and "tending to compliance"," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-25, June.
    16. Peng Chen & Zhenjun Yan & Pengfei Wang, 2023. "How can the Digital Economy Boost the Performance of Entrepreneurs? A Large Sample of Evidence from China’s Business Incubators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, March.
    17. Hua Zhang & Qiwang Zhang, 2023. "How Does Digital Transformation Facilitate Enterprise Total Factor Productivity? The Multiple Mediators of Supplier Concentration and Customer Concentration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Zhang, Linyan & Hu, Chunyu & Guo, Chuanyin & Wang, Jianguo, 2024. "Digital economy, technical change and total factor productivity: Empirical evidence from high-tech industry in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9).
    19. Liang, Peng & Liang, Lin & Tang, Xinhui, 2024. "The impact of digital-oriented mergers and acquisitions on enterprise labor demand," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    20. Mercedes Gumbau-Albert, 2024. "Understanding the Impact of Intangible Capital on Entrepreneurship at the Regional Level," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 11063-11089, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02355-4. 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.