IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i2p761-d1029801.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does the Digital Economy Affect Carbon Emission Efficiency? Evidence from Energy Consumption and Industrial Value Chain

Author

Listed:
  • Kangni Lyu

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Shuwang Yang

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Kun Zheng

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Yao Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China)

Abstract

China is confronted with the dual constraints of economic transformation and carbon emission reduction. As the digital economy is a key force in promoting economic transformation and optimizing industrial structure, it is crucial to analyze the digital economy’s impact on carbon emission reduction from the perspective of energy consumption and industrial value chain implications. We selected data from 251 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2011 to 2019 as research samples, measured the development level of the digital economy using the entropy value method, and constructed relevant regression models based on two-way fixed effects, intermediary analysis, and moderation analysis. The research reveals that: (1) The digital economy has a significant contribution to carbon emission efficiency, and there are significant regional heterogeneity and city size differences; (2) The digital economy can improve carbon emission efficiency by reducing energy consumption. (3) From a value chain perspective, industrial structure rationalization weakens the carbon emission efficiency improvement effect of the digital economy to a certain extent, whereas industrial structure upgrading obviously enhances the carbon efficiency improvement effect of the digital economy. The above findings enrich the research in the field of digital economy and environmental governance, contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which the digital economy affects the carbon emission efficiency, as well as provide policy implications for enhancing the use of the digital economy in the regional energy consumption and industrial value chain.

Suggested Citation

  • Kangni Lyu & Shuwang Yang & Kun Zheng & Yao Zhang, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Carbon Emission Efficiency? Evidence from Energy Consumption and Industrial Value Chain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-20, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:2:p:761-:d:1029801
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/761/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/761/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2010. "The greenness of cities: Carbon dioxide emissions and urban development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 404-418, May.
    2. Zhao, Jun & Jiang, Qingzhe & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin & Jiang, Hongdian, 2022. "How does industrial structure adjustment reduce CO2 emissions? Spatial and mediation effects analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    3. Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2011. "The impact of financial development on carbon emissions: An empirical analysis in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 2197-2203, April.
    4. Shi, Kaifang & Yu, Bailang & Zhou, Yuyu & Chen, Yun & Yang, Chengshu & Chen, Zuoqi & Wu, Jianping, 2019. "Spatiotemporal variations of CO2 emissions and their impact factors in China: A comparative analysis between the provincial and prefectural levels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 170-181.
    5. Zhang, Chuanguo & Zhou, Xiangxue, 2016. "Does foreign direct investment lead to lower CO2 emissions? Evidence from a regional analysis in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 943-951.
    6. Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    7. Acheampong, Alex O. & Amponsah, Mary & Boateng, Elliot, 2020. "Does financial development mitigate carbon emissions? Evidence from heterogeneous financial economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Hengfan Lu & Jiachao Peng & Xiangyi Lu, 2022. "Do Factor Market Distortions and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Distort Energy Industry Chain Technical Efficiency? A Heterogeneous Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-22, August.
    9. Roberta Capello & Roberto Camagni, 2000. "Beyond Optimal City Size: An Evaluation of Alternative Urban Growth Patterns," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(9), pages 1479-1496, August.
    10. Perez-Trujillo, Manuel & Lacalle-Calderon, Maricruz, 2020. "The impact of knowledge diffusion on economic growth across countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Zhao, Jun, 2022. "The impact of digital economy on energy transition across the globe: The mediating role of government governance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    12. Tone, Kaoru, 2002. "A slacks-based measure of super-efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 32-41, November.
    13. Yang, Bo & Liu, Baozhen & Peng, Jiachao & Liu, Xujun, 2022. "The impact of the embedded global value chain position on energy-biased technology progress: Evidence from chinas manufacturing," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhi-Wen & Xiao, Fu, 2022. "How does information and communication technology affect renewable energy technology innovation? International evidence," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 546-557.
    15. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Yuan, Zihao & Wang, Qiaoru, 2022. "How does information and communication technology affect energy security? International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    16. Yi, Ming & Wang, Yiqian & Sheng, Mingyue & Sharp, Basil & Zhang, Yao, 2020. "Effects of heterogeneous technological progress on haze pollution: Evidence from China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    17. Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu, 2021. "How does internet development affect energy-saving and emission reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    18. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    19. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Collard, Fabrice & Feve, Patrick & Portier, Franck, 2005. "Electricity consumption and ICT in the French service sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 541-550, May.
    21. Arts, Koen & Ioris, Antonio A.R. & Macleod, Christopher J.A. & Han, Xiwu & Sripada, Somayajulu G. & Braga, João R.Z. & van der Wal, René, 2016. "Environmental communication in the Information Age: Institutional barriers and opportunities in the provision of river data to the general public," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(P1), pages 47-53.
    22. Andrea Caragliu & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "Space and knowledge spillovers in European regions: the impact of different forms of proximity on spatial knowledge diffusion," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 749-774.
    23. Gereffi, Gary, 1999. "International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-70, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiangfei Ma & Yifan Ruan & Qiying Yang, 2023. "Evaluating China’s Common Prosperity Policies against the Background of Green Development by Using the PMC Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Ziyu Meng & Wen-Bo Li & Chaofan Chen & Chenghua Guan, 2023. "Carbon Emission Reduction Effects of the Digital Economy: Mechanisms and Evidence from 282 Cities in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Sainan Cheng & Guohua Qu, 2023. "Research on the Effect of Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions under the Background of “Double Carbon”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-27, March.
    4. Yanan Wu & Zinb Abduljabbar Mohamed Al-Duais & Biyu Peng, 2023. "Towards a low-carbon society: spatial distribution, characteristics and implications of digital economy and carbon emissions decoupling," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Lyu Jun & Shuang Lu & Xiang Li & Zeng Li & Chenglong Cao, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Industrial Carbon Emission Efficiency and Their Impacts from Digital Economy at Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Yihua Zhang & Xinxin Hong & Yuan Wang, 2023. "Study on the Coupled and Coordinated Development and Evolution of Digital Economy and Green Technology Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Zhong Ren & Jie Zhang, 2023. "Digital Economy, Clean Energy Consumption, and High-Quality Economic Development: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-24, September.

    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. Yin, Zi Hui & Zeng, Wei Ping, 2023. "The effects of industrial intelligence on China's energy intensity: The role of technology absorptive capacity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    2. Dong, Kangyin & Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Xiucheng, 2024. "Is the digital economy an effective tool for decreasing energy vulnerability? A global case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    3. Bai, Ling & Guo, Tianran & Xu, Wei & Liu, Yaobin & Kuang, Ming & Jiang, Lei, 2023. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission intensity in Chinese cities: A life-cycle theory and the application of non-linear spatial panel smooth transition threshold model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    4. Liao, Kaicheng & Liu, Juan, 2024. "Digital infrastructure empowerment and urban carbon emissions: Evidence from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6).
    5. Zhao, Dengfeng & Lin, Jingting & Bashir, Muhammad Adnan, 2024. "Analyze the effect of energy efficiency, natural resources, and the digital economy on ecological footprint in OCED countries: The mediating role of renewable energy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Le Sun & Congmou Zhu & Shaofeng Yuan & Lixia Yang & Shan He & Wuyan Li, 2022. "Exploring the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Agricultural Carbon Emission Performance in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Zhipeng Yu & Yi Liu & Taihua Yan & Ming Zhang, 2024. "Carbon emission efficiency in the age of digital economy: New insights on green technology progress and industrial structure distortion," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4039-4057, July.
    9. Nan Li & Beibei Shi & Rong Kang, 2023. "Analysis of the Coupling Effect and Space-Time Difference between China’s Digital Economy Development and Carbon Emissions Reduction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-25, January.
    10. Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhi-Wen & Xiao, Fu, 2022. "How does information and communication technology affect renewable energy technology innovation? International evidence," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 546-557.
    11. Shuangcheng Luo & Yangli Yuan, 2023. "The Path to Low Carbon: The Impact of Network Infrastructure Construction on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Lai, Aolin & Wang, Qunwei, 2024. "How coal de-capacity policy affects renewable energy development efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    13. Ruiyuan Dong & Xiaowei Zhou, 2023. "Analysis of the Nonlinear and Spatial Spillover Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    14. Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    15. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "How will promoting the digital economy affect electricity intensity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Demena, Binyam Afewerk & Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2020. "The effect of FDI on environmental emissions: Evidence from a meta-analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Pingguo Xu & Leyi Chen & Huajuan Dai, 2022. "Pathways to Sustainable Development: Corporate Digital Transformation and Environmental Performance in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    18. Lin, Boqiang & Huang, Chenchen, 2023. "Nonlinear relationship between digitization and energy efficiency: Evidence from transnational panel data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    19. Sun, Chuanwang & Khan, Anwar & Xue, Juntao & Huang, Xiaoyong, 2024. "Are digital economy and financial structure driving renewable energy technology innovations: A major eight countries perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    20. Menggen Chen & Songyangyang Zhao & Jiawen Wang, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on Regional Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-34, October.

    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:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:2:p:761-:d:1029801. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.