Digital Economy, Intellectual Property Rights Protection, and Modern Industrial System: An Empirical Study Based on 278 Cities in China

Abstract

The digital economy has emerged as a vital force for driving the construction of a modern industrial system. This paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation indicator system for a city-level modern industrial system, incorporating dimensions such as the real economy, technological innovation, modern finance, and human resources. Based on the analysis of panel data from 278 cities in China spanning from 2011 to 2022, the impact of the digital economy on constructing a modern industrial system is investigated. Results from benchmark regression and Difference-in-Differences (DID) tests reveal a significant empowering effect stemming from digital economy development. Initiatives like the Broadband China strategy and Smart City pilot program have notably advanced the construction of a modern industrial system in pilot cities. Mechanism tests underscore the critical role of the real economy, scientific and technological innovation, modern finance, and human resources as channels through which the digital economy empowers industrial modernization. The test results of spatial spillover effects reveal that the digital economy positively drives the construction of a modern industrial system within cities and exerts a siphoning effect on their neighboring cities. Moreover, intellectual property rights protection generally serves to enhance the empowering impact of the digital economy. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the empowering impact of digital economy development on the construction of a modern industrial system is notably stronger in cities in the eastern, central, and western regions of China, as well as in secondary urban agglomerations and non-urban agglomerations. This paper offers a theoretical framework and empirical evidence supporting the construction of a modern industrial system empowered by the digital economy.

Keywords

digital economy / modern industrial system / intellectual property rights (IPR) protection

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2024 Higher Education Press