Ziyuan Kexue (Sep 2023)
The impact of the digital economy on China’s carbon emissions from the perspective of global value chains
Abstract
[Objective] Under the background of digital transformation and low-carbon transformation, the development of digital economy is of great practical significance for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and net zero carbon emissions. [Methods] This study combined China’s multi-regional input-output table with the global input-output table in 2012, 2015, and 2017 to construct an embedded international input-output table, based on which the input-output model was used to quantify the scale of digital economy and carbon emissions from the global value chains of China’s 30 provinces and 21 industries, and to analyze the theoretical mechanism of the digital economy to reduce China’s carbon emissions from the perspective of global value chains and carry out empirical tests using fixed effects model and mediation effects model. [Results] (1) The scale of the digital economy in 30 provinces of China’s mainland showed a growing trend, and the carbon emissions from global value chains of all provinces were consistent with the level of economic development. (2) The development of the digital economy can significantly reduce China’s carbon emissions, which is mainly realized through two ways: enhancing the participation in global value chains and coordinated development of triple value chains. (3) The digital economy played a greater role in reducing China’s carbon emissions in the dimensions of complex global value chains, backward input dimensions, provincial carbon emissions, non-manufacturing sectors, and the eastern region. [Conclusion] China should give full play to the empowering role of the digital economy, actively develop new technologies and new business formats, develop a new economic pattern through “digital” and “green” models, and use the digital economy to achieve the dual carbon goals.
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