IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v46y2025i5p2895-2910.html

Marketization as a Catalyst: Understanding the Impact of Digital Economies on Green Innovation in Mainland China

Author

Listed:
  • Yunchen Cai
  • Muhammad Umair
  • Nawal Abdalla Adam
  • Ruilian Zhang
  • Sanjar Mirzaliev
  • Claudia Chang

Abstract

Amid global environmental challenges, understanding how digital economies drive green innovation is critical, especially within China's market‐based socialist framework. This study investigates how the digital economy and marketization jointly influence ecological innovation across 31 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2023. By integrating panel data analysis with a theoretical framework linking digital economic growth, marketization, and green innovation, this research uncovers key dynamics shaping sustainable development. Findings reveal that advancements in the digital economy significantly promote regional green innovations, with marketization serving as a vital conduit that amplifies this effect. Moreover, marketization exhibits dual impacts, both enhancing and moderating the sustainability outcomes driven by digital growth. These insights offer theoretical contributions by clarifying the causal mechanisms among digital economies, market forces, and innovation, while practically suggesting the need for a collaborative “enterprise‐public‐government” framework and robust market‐driven innovation systems to foster green development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunchen Cai & Muhammad Umair & Nawal Abdalla Adam & Ruilian Zhang & Sanjar Mirzaliev & Claudia Chang, 2025. "Marketization as a Catalyst: Understanding the Impact of Digital Economies on Green Innovation in Mainland China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(5), pages 2895-2910, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:5:p:2895-2910
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.4509
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4509
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.4509?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. Iftikhar, Yaser & Wang, Zhaohua & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Bo, 2018. "Energy and CO2 emissions efficiency of major economies: A network DEA approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 197-207.
    2. Xiuzhen, Xie & Zheng, Wenxiu & Umair, Muhammad, 2022. "Testing the fluctuations of oil resource price volatility: A hurdle for economic recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Azer Dilanchiev & Chanyanan Somthawinpongsai & Bobur Urinov & Elchin Eyvazov, 2024. "Unraveling the Nexus Between Financial Openness and Environmental Quality: Green Finance as the Catalyst in CEE Countries," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(03), pages 1-43, September.
    4. Maria Demertzis & Silvia Merler & Guntram B Wolff, 2018. "Capital Markets Union and the Fintech Opportunity," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 157-165.
    5. Yu, Mengyan & Umair, Muhammad & Oskenbayev, Yessengali & Karabayeva, Zhаnsaya, 2023. "Exploring the nexus between monetary uncertainty and volatility in global crude oil: A contemporary approach of regime-switching," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    6. Grant, Don & Jorgenson, Andrew K. & Longhofer, Wesley, 2016. "How organizational and global factors condition the effects of energy efficiency on CO2 emission rebounds among the world's power plants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 89-93.
    7. Aslani, Alireza & Helo, Petri & Naaranoja, Marja, 2014. "Role of renewable energy policies in energy dependency in Finland: System dynamics approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 758-765.
    8. Huang, Weiping & Das, Ghansham & Dilanchiev, Azer & Giyasova, Zeynab & Gu, Mangi, 2024. "Role of multiple energy sources under carbon neturality goals, income and energy consumption in transition economies: A joint case study between China and Uzbekistan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    9. Xu, Chuanbo & Wu, Yunna & Dai, Shuyu, 2020. "What are the critical barriers to the development of hydrogen refueling stations in China? A modified fuzzy DEMATEL approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Rintamäki, Tuomas & Siddiqui, Afzal S. & Salo, Ahti, 2017. "Does renewable energy generation decrease the volatility of electricity prices? An analysis of Denmark and Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 270-282.
    11. Jingxiang Lv & Tao Peng & Yingfeng Zhang & Yuchang Wang, 2021. "A novel method to forecast energy consumption of selective laser melting processes," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(8), pages 2375-2391, April.
    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. Wang, Jiale & Wang, Liu, 2025. "Industrial energy organizations: cost sharing, grid effect, and storing energy development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    2. Wang, Yaobin, 2026. "Energy security and economic growth: Analyzing the impact of fossil fuels in SAARC countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).

    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. Zheng, Xiumin & Imran, Muhammad & Umair, Muhammad & Lin, Chen & Dong, Yue, 2025. "Modern panelizing and optimization techniques for renewable energy projects; perspectives on how CO2 emissions impact the circular economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    2. Ye Wang & Muhammad Umair & Yessengali Oskenbayev & Ainur Saparova, 2026. "Digital government initiatives for sustainable innovations, digitalization, and emission reduction policies to balance conservation impact," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(1), pages 502-526, February.
    3. Fan, Qingzhu & Gao, Wang, 2024. "Climate risk and financial stability: The mediating effect of green credit," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Yu, Miaozhi & Wang, Yifan & Umair, Muhammad, 2024. "Minor mining, major influence: Economic implications and policy challenges of artisanal gold mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Guo, Yating & Rosland, Anitha & Ishak, Suryati & Muhammad Senan, Mohammad Khair Afham, 2023. "Public spending and natural resources development: A way toward green economic growth in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    6. Zhong, Xingxing & Zhao, Lei, 2024. "Alternative economic strategies for an ecological resurrection: The case of natural resource markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Wang, Yan & Yang, Tianxiao & Liu, Zhaomin & Chi, Zhong & Lu, Lili, 2024. "Combining natural resources to drive technology and efficiency for a greener economic recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Bai, Bing, 2023. "Fiscal stimulus and natural resource efficiency: A comprehensive approach to a green economic recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    9. Meng, Fanting, 2024. "Driving sustainable development: Fiscal policy and the promotion of natural resource efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Li, Zerong & Li, Lan & Hui, Mo, 2024. "Fostering green economic growth through sustainable management of natural resources," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    11. Lei, Hao & Zhu, Yu & Tan, Jinlong & Zhang, Xiaofeng, 2024. "Blending financial innovation with natural resource utilization: Pathways to green economic expansion," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Bin, Hu & Tuoyu, Li, 2024. "Greening the recovery: Natural resource sustainability and carbon assessment for financial development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Li, Ziyao & Dai, Liuyi, 2024. "Impact of energy stability, natural resources, and energy efficiency on ecological sustainability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Wang, Yunqiao & Han, Liangliang & Sun, Jiaqi & Sun, Zheyu, 2024. "Financing the green transition: Mobilizing resources for efficient natural resource management," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Kong, Jiangwei & Gao, Mengxi, 2024. "Sustainable strategies for boosting profitability: Unveiling the connection between fiscal policy and natural resource efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    16. Chen, Guoli & Qian, Zhe & Bolatbek, Botagoz & Na, Liu, 2024. "A comparative study of the nexus of natural resource investment in national economies: Effects on cultural communication and economic growth," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. Sun, Yi & Gao, Junjun, 2023. "Natural resource endowment and its lmpact on ecological efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    18. Feng, Amei & Liu, Liqian, 2023. "Local green economic growth and natural resources development in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    19. Huang, Zilong & Ren, Xiaocong, 2024. "Impact of natural resources, resilient economic growth, and energy consumption on CO2 emissions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Li, Yang & Du, Qingfeng, 2024. "Oil price volatility and gold prices volatility asymmetric links with natural resources via financial market fluctuations: Implications for green recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

    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:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:5:p:2895-2910. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    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.