The impact of digital economy on high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin: Empirical evidence from urban heterogeneity

Abstract

High- quality development in the Yellow River Basin is a major national development strategy in the new era. As a higher economic form, whether digital economy can become the driving force of high- quality urban development in the basin remains to be explored. This study used the endogenous growth mathematical model to examine how the digital economy affects high-quality development. It constructed the digital economy development index of cities in the Yellow River Basin and the high- quality development index under water resources constraints, and empirically tested the promotional effect of digital economy on high- quality development and transmission paths based on the panel data of cities in the basin from 2011 to 2018. The results show that: (1) The digital economy in the Yellow River Basin can significantly improve the high-quality development level, and the improvement effect of non resource- based cities is better than that of resource- based cities. (2) The high- quality development effect of digital economy has the advantage of late onset and increasing marginal return, and this advantage is more significant in the upstream and midstream cities than the downstream cities. (3) The effect of digital economy presents the characteristics of inverted- U shaped relationship with the expansion of urban scale. Medium- sized cities are the focus of developing digital economy in the future. (4) The upgrading of industrial structure, technological progress, and improvement in technical efficiency are the key transmission paths for the digital economy to promote high- quality development. Optimization of industrial structure is an important potential channel. The multi- dimensional Internet development and inclusive finance show a consistent convergence effect. The policy implication is to fully understand the differential impact of urban characteristics, urban location, and urban scale, and strengthen the high- quality development dividend effect of digital economy according to local conditions; comply with the new round of scientific and technological revolution, promote the upgrading of industrial structure and technological progress, and provide important support for the future high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.