Impact of the Digital Economy on PM 2.5: Experience from the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yellow River Basin

Huaxue Zhao, Yu Cheng () and Ruijing Zheng
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Huaxue Zhao: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Yu Cheng: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Ruijing Zheng: College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: The development of the digital economy holds great significance for alleviating haze pollution. To estimate the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution, this paper explores the spatiotemporal evolutionary characteristics of the digital economy and PM 2.5 concentration in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2019 and conducts regression analysis by combining a fixed effect (FE) model and the spatial Durbin model (SDM). Moreover, this study divides the mitigation effect of haze pollution into a direct effect and a spatial spillover effect, and it further analyzes the mechanism from the perspectives of technological innovation and the industrial structure. The empirical results show that the development level of the digital economy increases year by year and that the concentration of PM 2.5 decreases year by year. The digital economy level and PM 2.5 concentration in the downstream region are higher than those in the middle region, and the digital economy is negatively correlated with haze pollution. Similarly, the spatial spillover effect of the digital economy is conducive to curbing haze pollution. The robustness test also supports this conclusion. In addition, there is regional heterogeneity in the impact of the digital economy on haze pollution. The direct effect and spatial spillover effect of the digital economy on haze pollution in the downstream region are greater than those in the middle region. This study suggests that to realize air pollution prevention and control, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure and create a good digital economy development environment based on local conditions. Encouraging the development of digital technological innovation and promoting industrial digital transformation hold great significance for alleviating haze pollution.

Keywords: digitization; haze pollution; mediating effect model; spatial Durbin model; kernel density estimation (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 (3)

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