Coupling and Coordinated Development of Carbon Emission Efficiency in Industrial Enterprises and the Digital Economy: Empirical Evidence from Anhui, China

Fagang Hu, Hongjun Liu (), Yuxia Guo, Heping Ding and Kun Wang
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Fagang Hu: Business School, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China
Hongjun Liu: Business School, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China
Yuxia Guo: Business School, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China
Heping Ding: Business School, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China
Kun Wang: School of Management, Suzhou University, Suzhou 234000, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-22

Abstract: To delve into the interrelationship between the green transformation of industry and the economy’s high-quality development, to promote the coordinated development of industrial carbon emission efficiency and digital economy, to expand the scope and research ideas related to economic and social sustainable development, and to provide scientific reference for the low-carbon sustainable development of regional economy, this article introduced a data-centric methodology for evaluating the collaborative advancement of both industrial enterprises’ carbon emission efficiency and the digital economy. To accurately gauge the carbon footprint of industrial enterprises, models focusing on carbon emissions as well as carbon emission intensity were employed. To enhance the precision of evaluation outcomes and mitigate biases stemming from subjective weighting factors, we employed the entropy weight method to objectively assign weights to each indicator. Furthermore, the super-efficient slack-based model (SBM) can solve the problem that the conclusions are biased, due to the different radial. Subsequently, a carbon-emission efficiency slack-based measure model, and models for coupling degree and coupling-coordination degree were formulated. Anhui, as a central province in China, is also an important province in the Yangtze River Delta integration development. Coordinated development of its carbon emission efficiency and digital economy has important implications for the sustainable economy advancements of other regions in China, and even other countries or regions in the world. Therefore, Anhui was selected to be the empirical research sample. The results showed that the comprehensive levels of these two systems followed an increasing trend, while the digital economy lagged. Their coupling degree fluctuated and reached its highest point in 2021, whereas their coupling-coordination degree increased, showing high coupling and low coordination overall. This study proposes specific countermeasures and suggestions for the relevant decision-makers.

Keywords: industrial enterprises; carbon emission efficiency; digital economy; coupling coordination; green development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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