Digital economy and urban green development: A quasi-natural experiment based on national big data comprehensive pilot zone

Lianghu Wang and Jun Shao

Energy & Environment, 2026, vol. 37, issue 1, 221-245

Abstract: As the engine of economic growth in the modern age, the digital economy plays an indispensable role in boosting the green development of cities. In this research, the difference in difference model and the spatial Durbin difference in difference (SDMDID) model are utilized to empirically examine the influence of digital economy on urban green development by employing the national big data comprehensive pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment. In addition, its mechanism of action is further investigated from the standpoint of industrial structure upgrading, technical innovation, and human capital. The findings demonstrate that the degree of urban green development has consistently increased over the research sample, and there were clear disparities across areas; the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone has a significant role in promoting the green development of cities, and the policy effect on central cities and small and medium-sized cities is significantly higher than that of other types of cities; SDMDID model research found that the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone has a spatial effect; the mechanism test shows that the implementation of the national big data comprehensive pilot zone can promote the improvement of urban green development by promoting the upgrading of industrial structure and improving the level of technological innovation, while the mechanism of human capital has not yet emerged.

Keywords: Digital economy; urban green development; difference in difference; spatial Durbin difference in difference; national big data comprehensive pilot zone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:engenv:v:37:y:2026:i:1:p:221-245

DOI: 10.1177/0958305X241238348

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