IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v73y2025ipas0275531924003349.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How does the digital economy affect the green transition: The role of industrial intelligence and E-commerce

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Chenchen
  • Min Du, Anna
  • Lin, Boqiang

Abstract

As a new economic form, the digital economy (DE) significantly impacts green development. However, the impact of the DE on green total factor productivity (GTFP) remains controversial. A two-way fixed effect model is constructed to explore the impact of DE on green development. It is found that (1) there is a U-shaped relationship rather than a positive relationship between DE and GTFP. (2) Industrial intelligence and e-commerce are essential for DE to affect GTFP. (3) The DE affects GTFP mainly by promoting efficiency progress rather than technological progress. In addition, in regions where government attention to the DE is higher than others, the DE substantially contributes to GTFP. The potential of integrating the DE and the real economy needs to be further tapped. This paper presents pertinent policy suggestions and provides new empirical evidence and valuable reference for promoting green development.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Chenchen & Min Du, Anna & Lin, Boqiang, 2025. "How does the digital economy affect the green transition: The role of industrial intelligence and E-commerce," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:73:y:2025:i:pa:s0275531924003349
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102541
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531924003349
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102541?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chang, Lei & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Mohsin, Muhammad, 2023. "Role of artificial intelligence on green economic development: Joint determinates of natural resources and green total factor productivity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Ju, Chunhua & Liu, Huajin & Xu, Aidi & Zhang, Jie, 2023. "Green logistics of fossil fuels and E-commerce: Implications for sustainable economic development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    3. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Digital economy solutions towards carbon neutrality: The critical role of energy efficiency and energy structure transformation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    4. Shang, Yunfeng & Zong, Yi, 2024. "Role of e-commerce for promoting sustainability in the mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Malin Song & Heting Pan & Michael Vardanyan & Zhiyang Shen, 2023. "Evaluating the energy efficiency-enhancing potential of the digital economy: Evidence from China," Post-Print hal-04277444, HAL.
    6. Jo Thori Lind & Halvor Mehlum, 2010. "With or Without U? The Appropriate Test for a U‐Shaped Relationship," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(1), pages 109-118, February.
    7. Fu, Hengni & Zheng, Chengsi & Yang, PingYu, 2024. "Digital inclusive finance and green transformation of manufacturing enterprises: Empirical analysis based on the dual perspectives of demand and supply," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    8. Song, Ying & Yang, Lu & Li, Lu, 2024. "A study on the impact mechanism of internet embedding on rural E-commerce entrepreneurship," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. Zhiyang Shen & Tianyang Hong & Stéphane Blancard & Kaixuan Bai, 2024. "Digital financial inclusion and green growth: analysis of Chinese agriculture," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(46), pages 5555-5573, October.
    10. Ma, Dan & Zhu, Qing, 2022. "Innovation in emerging economies: Research on the digital economy driving high-quality green development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 801-813.
    11. Richard F. J. Haans & Constant Pieters & Zi-Lin He, 2016. "Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U- and inverted U-shaped relationships in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1177-1195, July.
    12. Du, Congcong & Cao, Yunhui & Ling, Yushan & Jin, Zebin & Wang, Shibo & Wang, Daoping, 2024. "Does manufacturing agglomeration promote green productivity growth in China? Fresh evidence from partially linear functional-coefficient models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    13. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    14. Lyu, Yanwei & Xiao, Xuan & Zhang, Jinning, 2024. "Does the digital economy enhance green total factor productivity in China? The evidence from a national big data comprehensive pilot zone," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 183-196.
    15. Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhi-Wen & Yuan, Zihao, 2023. "A pathway to sustainable development: Digitization and green productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    16. Mahlberg, Bernhard & Sahoo, Biresh K., 2011. "Radial and non-radial decompositions of Luenberger productivity indicator with an illustrative application," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 721-726, June.
    17. Huang, Junbing & Wang, Yajun & Luan, Bingjiang & Zou, Hong & Wang, Jun, 2023. "The energy intensity reduction effect of developing digital economy: Theory and empirical evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    18. Xiaoli Hao & Xinhui Wang & Haitao Wu & Yu Hao, 2023. "Path to sustainable development: Does digital economy matter in manufacturing green total factor productivity?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 360-378, February.
    19. Yubin Wu & Fu’an Shi & Yongyu Wang, 2024. "Driving Impact of Digital Transformation on Total Factor Productivity of Corporations: The Mediating Effect of Green Technology Innovation," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(5), pages 950-966, April.
    20. Du, Kerui & Lu, Huang & Yu, Kun, 2014. "Sources of the potential CO2 emission reduction in China: A nonparametric metafrontier approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 491-501.
    21. Dong-hyun Oh & Jeong-dong Lee, 2010. "A metafrontier approach for measuring Malmquist productivity index," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 47-64, February.
    22. Oh, Dong-hyun, 2010. "A metafrontier approach for measuring an environmentally sensitive productivity growth index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 146-157, January.
    23. Wang, Linhui & Chen, Qi & Dong, Zhiqing & Cheng, Lu, 2024. "The role of industrial intelligence in peaking carbon emissions in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    24. Molinos-Senante, María & Maziotis, Alexandros & Sala-Garrido, Ramón, 2014. "The Luenberger productivity indicator in the water industry: An empirical analysis for England and Wales," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 18-28.
    25. Fukuyama, Hirofumi & Weber, William L., 2009. "A directional slacks-based measure of technical inefficiency," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 274-287, December.
    26. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu & Yang, Xiaodong & Xie, Guo, 2021. "Does internet development improve green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    27. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    28. Wang, Shucui & Song, Yutong & Min Du, Anna & Liang, Jia, 2024. "The digital economy and entrepreneurial dynamics: An empirical analysis of urban regions in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    29. Daoping Wang & Kerui Du & Ning Zhang, 2022. "Measuring technical efficiency and total factor productivity change with undesirable outputs in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 22(1), pages 103-124, March.
    30. Yang, Siying & Liu, Fengshuo, 2024. "Impact of industrial intelligence on green total factor productivity: The indispensability of the environmental system," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of digital technology innovation on green total-factor energy efficiency in China: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Cheng, Zhonghua & Li, Lianshui & Liu, Jun & Zhang, Huiming, 2018. "Total-factor carbon emission efficiency of China's provincial industrial sector and its dynamic evolution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 330-339.
    3. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Digital economy solutions towards carbon neutrality: The critical role of energy efficiency and energy structure transformation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    4. Chen, Aizhen & Zhao, Dongyan & He, Chengying, 2024. "Firm digital investments and capacity utilisation: A perspective of factor inputs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    5. Taqdees Fatima & Bingxiang Li & Shahab Alam Malik & Dan Zhang, 2023. "The Spatial Effect of Industrial Intelligence on High-Quality Green Development of Industry under Environmental Regulations and Low Carbon Intensity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Zha, Donglan & Yang, Guanglei & Wang, Qunwei, 2019. "Investigating the driving factors of regional CO2 emissions in China using the IDA-PDA-MMI method," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2025. "The impact of digital economy on energy rebound effect in China: A stochastic energy demand frontier approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    8. Zhang, Ning & Choi, Yongrok, 2013. "A comparative study of dynamic changes in CO2 emission performance of fossil fuel power plants in China and Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 324-332.
    9. Feng, Chao & Wang, Miao, 2018. "Analysis of energy efficiency in China's transportation sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 565-575.
    10. Arjomandi, Amir & Dakpo, K. Hervé & Seufert, Juergen Heinz, 2018. "Have Asian airlines caught up with European Airlines? A by-production efficiency analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 389-403.
    11. Yujiao Xian & Ke Wang & Xunpeng Shi & Chi Zhang & Yi-Ming Wei & Zhimin Huang, 2018. "Carbon emissions intensity reduction target for China¡¯s power industry: An efficiency and productivity perspective," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 117, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    12. Feng, Chao & Wang, Miao & Liu, Guan-Chun & Huang, Jian-Bai, 2017. "Sources of economic growth in China from 2000–2013 and its further sustainable growth path: A three-hierarchy meta-frontier data envelopment analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 334-348.
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "Nonlinear relationship between digitization and energy efficiency: Evidence from transnational panel data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    14. Cheng, Zhonghua & Liu, Jun & Li, Lianshui & Gu, Xinbei, 2020. "Research on meta-frontier total-factor energy efficiency and its spatial convergence in Chinese provinces," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    15. Liu, Guangtian & Wang, Bing & Zhang, Ning, 2016. "A coin has two sides: Which one is driving China’s green TFP growth?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 481-498.
    16. Nabavieh, Alireza & Gholamiangonabadi, Davoud & Ahangaran, Ali Asghar, 2015. "Dynamic changes in CO2 emission performance of different types of Iranian fossil-fuel power plants," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 142-150.
    17. Feng, Chao & Zhang, Hua & Huang, Jian-Bai, 2017. "The approach to realizing the potential of emissions reduction in China: An implication from data envelopment analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 859-872.
    18. Xiangyu Teng & Danting Lu & Yung-ho Chiu, 2019. "Emission Reduction and Energy Performance Improvement with Different Regional Treatment Intensity in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Lin, Boqiang & Sai, Rockson, 2022. "Towards low carbon economy: Performance of electricity generation and emission reduction potential in Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    20. Schneider, Florian, 2024. "Do robots boost productivity? A quantitative meta-study," MPRA Paper 123392, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:73:y:2025:i:pa:s0275531924003349. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.