Does Digital Infrastructure Improve Urban Economic Resilience? Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China

Jifeng Zhang, Zirui Yang and Bing He
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Jifeng Zhang: School of Business, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China
Zirui Yang: School of Business, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-21

Abstract: Under the pressure exerted by COVID-19 and geopolitical conflicts, establishing how to enhance urban economic resilience and cope with external risks has become the focus of many studies. This study considers the “Broadband China” program as a quasi-natural experiment and uses panel data from 106 Chinese cities between 2011 and 2020 to explore the influence of digital infrastructure on urban economic resilience through a difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The results are as follows: (1) Digital infrastructure improves urban economic resilience, and the influence differs by time and region. (2) Economic vitality, industrial structure upgrading, and industrial structure rationalization either moderate or mediate the impact of the digital infrastructure on economic resilience. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of how digital infrastructure and economic resilience are related.

Keywords: digital infrastructure; urban economic resilience; the Yangtze River Economic Belt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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