Digital Economy, Environmental Regulation, and Ecological Well-Being Performance: A Provincial Panel Data Analysis from China

Xiaoming Song, Ze Tian, Chenhui Ding (), Chao Liu, Wei Wang, Ronggai Zhao and Yingchun Xing
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Xiaoming Song: Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Ze Tian: Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Chenhui Ding: Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Chao Liu: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210000, China
Wei Wang: Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Ronggai Zhao: Foreign Language Teaching and International Exchange Department, Shijiazhuang Posts and Telecommunications Technical College, Shijiazhuang 050021, China
Yingchun Xing: Department of Postal Communication Management, Shijiazhuang Posts and Telecommunications Technical College, Shijiazhuang 050021, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-21

Abstract: China is currently in a strategic opportunity period for green and high-quality development, and developing the digital economy is an important choice to achieve environmental pollution control, improve regional ecological efficiency, and enhance social welfare. In this context, the impact of the digital economy on ecological well-being performance and the role of environmental regulation need to be examined. In this study, the super-efficiency SBM-DEA model was used to measure the level of ecological well-being performance in 30 provinces of China from 2011 to 2019. On this basis, the mediating effect model and spatial Durbin model were adopted to explore the transmission mechanism and regional heterogeneity of the impact of the digital economy on ecological well-being performance. The empirical results show that the digital economy significantly contributes to regional ecological well-being performance in China, and there is significant spatial spillover as well. Moreover, the findings still hold under robustness tests. The results also show that environmental regulation is an important transmission path for the digital economy to enhance regional ecological well-being performance, and the impact of environmental regulation on ecological well-being performance varies by region; specifically, the impact in eastern China is positive but not significant. However, the digital economy plays a significant positive role in promoting ecological well-being performance in the central and western regions, and is more obvious in the central region. Finally, suggestions are put forward to enhance the role of the digital economy in regional ecological well-being performance, which is of great significance for promoting green economic growth and high-quality development.

Keywords: digital economy; environmental regulation; ecological well-being performance; mediating effects; spatial effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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