Impact of digital economy on the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry:a quasi-natural experiment based on the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone
This article regards the establishment of National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone as a quasi-natural experiment for the development of the digital economy.Using the panel data of 31 provinces(autonomous regions or province level cities)of China from 2003 to 2020,it empirically analyzes the impact and mechanism of digital econo-my development on the transformation and upgrading of regional manufacturing industries from two dimensions:ra-tionalization of manufacturing structure and upgrading of manufacturing structure.The findings show that,regardless of whether control variables are included,the development of the digital economy has a significant positive impact on the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industries.After replacing the dependent variables and removing some samples,the promoting effect of the digital economy on the manufacturing transformation and upgrading re-mains robust.Mechanism analysis shows that the development of the digital economy promotes the rationalization and upgrading of manufacturing structure mainly through innovation incentive effects and demand pull effects.
digital economytransformation and upgrading of manufacturing industryNational Big Data Comprehen-sive Pilot Zone