数字经济对长江经济带经济高质量发展的影响——基于绿色创新的机制分析

The Impact of Digital Economy on High-Quality Economic Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt—A Mechanism Analysis Based on Green Innovation

摘要: 数字经济作为驱动经济高质量发展的核心动能，与绿色创新的深度融合成为破解发展与减排矛盾的关键路径。本文以2011~2023年长江经济带108个地级市面板数据为研究样本，基于创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享五大理念构建经济高质量发展指数，同时从数字基础设施、数字产业发展等维度测度数字经济发展水平，运用双固定效应模型和中介效应模型，实证检验数字经济对长江经济带经济高质量发展的影响及绿色创新的中介传导机制，并进一步开展区域位置和碳排放效率的异质性分析。研究结果表明：数字经济对长江经济带经济高质量发展具有显著且稳定的直接正向促进作用，这一结论经多种稳健性检验后依然成立；绿色创新在数字经济赋能经济高质量发展的过程中发挥着重要的中介作用，中介效应占比达65.3%；数字经济的赋能效应存在显著异质性，在长江经济带中下游地区的促进作用显著大于上游地区，在高碳排放效率城市的正向影响也明显强于低碳排放效率城市。

Abstract: The digital economy is the core driver of high-quality economic development, and its in-depth integration with green innovation is a pivotal solution to the conflict between development and emission reduction. Based on the panel data of 108 prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2023, this paper constructs a high-quality economic development index following the five development concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing, and measures the digital economy development level from dimensions such as digital infrastructure and digital industrial development. Using the double fixed effect model and mediating effect model, it empirically examines the impact of the digital economy on the high-quality economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the mediating transmission mechanism of green innovation, and further conducts heterogeneity analysis from the perspectives of regional location and carbon emission efficiency. The results show that the digital economy has a significant and stable direct positive effect on the high-quality economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, a conclusion validated by various robustness tests; green innovation plays an important mediating role in the digital economy’s empowerment of high-quality economic development, with the mediating effect accounting for 65.3%; the enabling effect of the digital economy is significantly heterogeneous, exerting a much stronger promotional effect in the middle and lower reaches than in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and a more obvious positive impact on cities with high carbon emission efficiency than on those with low carbon emission efficiency.