Research on Measuring the Development Level of Digital Economy in Five Provinces in Northwest China

The digital economy is a crucial factor in enhancing the quality of regional economic development. Conducting measurements and evaluations of the development level of the digital economy in the five northwestern provinces of China holds significant practical importance. Based on provincial panel data from 2012 to 2022 for these five provinces, this paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation index system encompassing digital infrastructure, digital innovation, digital application, and digital industry. An objective and comprehensive measurement method, namely the entropy value method, is employed for the assessment. The research team found that the digital economy in the five northwestern provinces is continually improving, yet there exists a significant development gap among them. Therefore, the five northwestern provinces should strengthen the formulation and implementation of supportive policy systems, ensure a favorable environment for digital economic development, enhance inter-provincial communication, promote integrated and complementary development of the digital economy, accelerate the exploitation of resource advantages, and address the shortcomings in digital economic development.