The influence of digital development on China’s carbon emission efficiency: In the view of economic and environmental balance

Frontiers in Environmental Science

Environmental Science

Yuan Ding¹  Yalan Yang² 

[1] Hult International Business School, Cambridge, MA, United States;Longe School of Business, Lasell University, Newton, MA, United States;

关键词: carbon efficiency;    digital development;    sustainable growth;    NDDF model;    mediation effect model;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fenvs.2023.1075890

 received in 2022-10-21, accepted in 2023-02-16,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Introduction: With the worsening global climate problem, carbon peak and carbon neutrality have become crucial objects to realize sustainable development. Regarded as the engine of economic development in the new era, it is worth exploring whether digitalization could contribute to carbon goals. Meanwhile, carbon reduction should not be advocated at the cost of economic recession and contains the risk of reversal when the economy renews in growth.Material and Methods: This paper evaluates carbon efficiency using the total factor non-radial directional distance function, which reflects the economic performance and environmental performance of 246 China’s prefecture-level cities during 2011–2019. Fixed effect and mediation effect models are used to explore the non-linear relationship and transmission channels between digital development and carbon efficiency.Results: It is found that: 1) digital development would hinder carbon efficiency first and then promote it after reaching a certain level; 2) digital development could indirectly affect carbon efficiency through industrial agglomeration, industrial structure upgrading, and industrial electricity productivity in non-linear ways. 3) Heterogeneity exists in the relationship between digital development and carbon efficiency due to different regions and development types.Discussion: Due to digital development itself having high carbon-negative externalities at the initial stage, its impact on carbon efficiency is complex and non-liner even when decomposing through multiple channels. A well-structured development strategy is needed during the digitalization process in order to prompt carbon efficiency.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
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