The Mediating and Moderating Effects of the Digital Economy on PM2.5: Evidence from China

Abstract

Environmental issues are fundamentally problems of development mode and life style. Meanwhile, the digital economy is an important means of optimizing the economic structure and achieving high-quality economic development, thereby changing the way of production and life, which can improve the aforementioned environmental challenges. Therefore, this research investigates how the digital economy can bring new ideas for reducing pollution in depth. Based on panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities in China, this paper examines the impact of the digital economy on PM_2.5. We construct the evaluation system of China’s digital economy development from the three aspects of digital penetration, digital human resources, and digital output. We use the digital economy comprehensive index with digital financial inclusion index as the main component to test the robustness. The results show that the increase of the digital economy reduces PM_2.5 emissions in Chinese cities. In addition, we also explore technological innovation as a mediating channel for the digital economy to influence PM_2.5 emissions. The digital economy provides a better research environment for technological innovation, conducive to improving cleaner production technology and products. Finally, we find that environmental information disclosure can enhance the impact of the digital economy on PM_2.5 emissions.