Inspiring the energy of computing power: How does the establishment of National supercomputing centers affect urban economic resilience?

Baoqi Li, Chen Yang and Jie Zheng

Economic Modelling, 2026, vol. 162, issue C

Abstract: Computing infrastructure has become increasingly important in supporting modern economic systems with the development of the digital economy. However, its socioeconomic consequences remain underexplored. Exploiting the establishment of National Supercomputing Centers (NSCs) in China as a quasinatural experiment, this study examines the causal impact of computing infrastructure development on urban economic resilience (UER). We find that NSC construction significantly enhances UER. Mechanism analysis shows that this effect operates through facilitating frontier strategic technological breakthroughs, strengthening intercity collaborative innovation networks, and promoting digital-real integration. We further examine the role of data trading in this process. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of NSC is more pronounced in cities with stronger factor circulation capacity, deeper regional network embeddedness, and more advanced digital governance. Overall, our findings highlight the critical role of computing infrastructure in shaping UER and provide policy-relevant insights for strengthening cities’ dynamic resilience through infrastructure development.

Keywords: Computing infrastructure; Urban economic resilience; National supercomputing center; Quasinatural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L96 O33 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999326002014
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:162:y:2026:i:c:s0264999326002014

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2026.107672

Access Statistics for this article

Economic Modelling is currently edited by S. Hall and P. Pauly

More articles in Economic Modelling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().