How Does the Digital Economy Affect Carbon Emission Efficiency? Evidence from Energy Consumption and Industrial Value Chain

Kangni Lyu, Shuwang Yang, Kun Zheng () and Yao Zhang ()
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Kangni Lyu: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Shuwang Yang: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Kun Zheng: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Yao Zhang: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: China is confronted with the dual constraints of economic transformation and carbon emission reduction. As the digital economy is a key force in promoting economic transformation and optimizing industrial structure, it is crucial to analyze the digital economy’s impact on carbon emission reduction from the perspective of energy consumption and industrial value chain implications. We selected data from 251 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2011 to 2019 as research samples, measured the development level of the digital economy using the entropy value method, and constructed relevant regression models based on two-way fixed effects, intermediary analysis, and moderation analysis. The research reveals that: (1) The digital economy has a significant contribution to carbon emission efficiency, and there are significant regional heterogeneity and city size differences; (2) The digital economy can improve carbon emission efficiency by reducing energy consumption. (3) From a value chain perspective, industrial structure rationalization weakens the carbon emission efficiency improvement effect of the digital economy to a certain extent, whereas industrial structure upgrading obviously enhances the carbon efficiency improvement effect of the digital economy. The above findings enrich the research in the field of digital economy and environmental governance, contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which the digital economy affects the carbon emission efficiency, as well as provide policy implications for enhancing the use of the digital economy in the regional energy consumption and industrial value chain.

Keywords: digital economy; carbon emission efficiency; industrial structure; energy consumption; industrial value chain; mediation model; moderation model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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