Digital Empowerment and High-Quality Economic Development in Chinese Cities: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones

Abstract

The digital era has brought forth opportunities for economic transformation and growth. Seizing the new possibilities presented by the digital economy is crucial for adapting to changes in significant societal challenges and driving high-quality economic development. By assessing the level of high-quality economic development in 279 cities across China from 2011 to 2020, this paper considers the national comprehensive big data pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment. Through the utilization of a Difference- in-Differences method with multiple time periods, it investigates the driving effect of digital empowerment on the high-quality economic development of cities. The research results indicate that the high-quality economic development level of cities in the Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta, and southeastern coastal regions has consistently been at the forefront and most stable . Digital empowerment significantly propels the high-quality economic development of cities and exerts a greater influence on fostering shared and sustainable growth. Additionally, it is more conducive to advancing cities with higher levels, larger scales, and superior development quality of information infrastructure. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that digital empowerment primarily aligns production closer to the production possibility curve and extends its boundaries, thus driving the high-quality economic development of cities.

Keywords

digital empowerment / production possibility curve / high-quality economic development / national big data comprehensive pilot zones

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2024 Higher Education Press