Overall regression results.

The digital economy may accelerate the upgrading of industrial structures and boost regional innovation output, effectively contributing to China’s green economic transformation. The impact of the digital economy on developing the urban green economy is analyzed using data from 280 cities across China from 2010–2019. Using a fixed-effects model and the Spatial Durbin model, the digital economy is found to have a significant impact on urban green economy development. This result is shown to be robust to various factors. There is significant regional variability in the impact of the digital economy on green economic growth, with the strongest impact in the northeast, followed by the central and western regions. Meanwhile, non-resource-based cities and policy pilot cities have a more pronounced role in promoting the digital economy. The intermediate transmission chain of industrial structural upgrading and regional innovation output fosters the growth of the urban green economy via the digital economy. Regional innovation production is responsible for 30.848% of this growth, with the intermediate effect of industrial structural upgrading contributing to 38.155%.

数字经济可加速产业结构升级、提升区域创新产出，有效助力中国绿色经济转型。本研究基于2010-2019年中国280个城市的面板数据，剖析数字经济对城市绿色经济发展的影响效应。通过固定效应模型（fixed-effects model）与空间杜宾模型（Spatial Durbin model）开展实证分析，结果显示数字经济对城市绿色经济发展具有显著正向影响，且该结论通过多维度稳健性检验依然成立。数字经济对绿色经济增长的影响存在显著区域异质性：东北地区影响效应最强，中部地区次之，西部地区最弱；与此同时，非资源型城市与政策试点城市中，数字经济的赋能效果更为显著。产业结构升级与区域创新产出构成的中介传导链条，可通过数字经济路径推动城市绿色经济增长，其中区域创新产出的中介贡献占比为30.848%，产业结构升级的中介效应贡献占比为38.155%。