The Power of Institutional Innovation in the Construction of Digital Ecological Civilization:A Perspective of Policy Synergy Empowerment
Accelerating the construction of a green and intelligent digital ecological civilization(DEC)is crucial for advancing the dual strategies of"Beautiful China"and"Digital China".However,this topic has received insufficient academic attention,with theoretical research significantly lagging behind practical demands.Based on scientifically measuring the development of DEC,this paper explores the theoretical relationships and practical connections between green-digital policy synergy and the construction of DEC.This paper,based on the construction of an urban DEC index,employs a quasi-natural experiment involving the dual policy synergy of the low-carbon city pilot and the"Broadband China"strategy.Utilizing the panel data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2021,this paper employs a dual machine learning model to empirically examine the synergistic mechanisms and multidimensional effects of these policies in facilitating the construction of DEC.The findings reveal that the green-digital policies have a significant synergistic and promotional effect on the construction of DEC,with the compound policies demonstrating more pronounced empowerment effects compared with the single policies.These conclusions remain robust after a series of robustness checks and endogeneity tests.Meanwhile,the green-digital policies not only directly drive the"green-digital"dual-wheel institutional innovation in the construction of DEC but also indirectly support it through optimizing economic structures,fostering digital environments,and guiding ecological protection.Further analysis indicates that the positive effects of the green-digital policy synergy are more prominent in cities with better economic foundations,lower fiscal decentralization,lower digital industry development and industrial digital application,non-resource-based and old industrial base cities,and those adopting a combined policy"green-first,digital-second".Moreover,the current overall level of DEC in China remains relatively low,with significant room for improvement.The DEC disparity among cities shows a widening trend.Green-digital policies are not only a crucial driving factor for synergistically promoting the construction of DEC but also a determining factor in overcoming the"Matthew effect"trap.This paper provides important insights for governments to strengthen the green-digital policy synergy,tap into the synergy of multidimensional policy integration,and scientifically accelerate the construction of a green and intelligent DEC under the new development paradigm.Potential innovations of this paper are as follows.Firstly,it constructs a DEC index system for the first time and measures digital ecological civilization at the prefecture-level city,thus expanding the research boundaries.Secondly,it systematically constructs a theoretical framework of green-digital policy synergy empowerment by integrating"economy-technology-ecology",and innovatively regards these policies represented by low-carbon city pilot and the"Broadband China"strategy as a compound quasi-natural experiment,systematically evaluating its influence mechanisms and effects on urban DEC in multiple dimensions including direct,indirect,and heterogeneous impacts.Thirdly,it employs the frontier econometric model of double machine learning for empirical characterization,which can avoid control variable redundancy and model misspecification issues,enhancing the accuracy and credibility of research results on policy empowerment.This paper enriches bilateral research on policy synergy empowerment and DEC construction,providing theoretical insights and decision-making references for accelerating the construction of ecological civilization from a new perspective of institutional innovation synergy.
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万方数据
