赋能或负能：数字化转型与绿色持续创新 ——基于“本地-邻近”环境规制调节视角

Empowerment or Disempowerment: Digital Transformation and Green Sustainable Innovation—Based on the Moderating Perspective of “Local-Neighboring” Environmental Regulation

摘要:

城市数字化与绿色化“双化协同”转型是适应技术环境新变革、塑造新竞争优势的必由之路。 基于 2011—2023 年中国 284 个地级市面板数据,运用非线性模型、曲线调节效应模型及偏线性函数系数模型,实证研究数字化转型的绿色持续创新效应及其作用边界。 研究发现:①数字化转型对绿色持续创新具有“驱动”和“诅咒”两种效应,两种潜在机制结合塑造了二者间倒 U 型的关系特征;研究期内,中国多数城市数字化转型对绿色持续创新仍以驱动效应为主导,数字化与绿色化协同发展态势良好。 ②“本地-邻地”环境规制对本地数字化转型影响绿色持续创新的过程具有异质性的非线性调节作用。 本地环境规制强化了“数字驱动”和“数字诅咒”双重效应,使倒 U 型曲线变陡峭、曲线拐点左移,导致数字化转型对绿色持续创新的最优边际效应更早达到;地理邻近环境规制强化了本地数字化转型与策略性绿色持续创新的倒 U 型关系,经济地理邻近环境规制则强化了本地数字化转型与实质性绿色持续创新的倒 U 型关系。 ③偏线性函数系数模型的估计结果,进一步揭示了“本地-邻近”环境规制对本地数字化转型的双重效应存在非线性调节作用。 研究结论丰富了数字化转型与绿色创新相关研究,对中国城市迈向“双化协同”发展新阶段提供了理论参考。

Abstract:

The coordinated advancement of urban digitalization and green transformation (dual-transformation coordination) represents a crucial strategy for adapting to evolving technological and environmental conditions and for cultivating new sources of competitive advantage. Drawing on panel data from 284 prefecture-level cities in China spanning 2011 to 2023, nonlinear models, curvilinear moderating effect models, and partial linear functional coefficient models were employed to empirically investigate the effects of digitalization on green sustainable innovation and the associated boundary conditions. The findings are summarized as follows. Digital transformation exerts both “driving” and “cursing” effects on green sustainable innovation. The interplay of these two underlying mechanisms generates an inverted U-shaped relationship. During the study period, the driving effect remained dominant in most Chinese cities, indicating a favorable trend in the coordinated development of digitalization and greening. “Local-neighboring” environmental regulation imposes heterogeneous nonlinear moderating effects on the relationship between local digital transformation and green sustainable innovation. Specifically, local environmental regulation intensifies both the digital “driving” and “cursing” effects, resulting in a steeper inverted U-shaped curve and a leftward shift of the inflection point. This shift causes the optimal marginal effect of digitalization on green sustainable innovation to be achieved earlier. Geographically proximate environmental regulation strengthens the inverted U-shaped relationship between local digitalization and strategic green sustainable innovation, whereas economically and geographically proximate environmental regulation strengthens the inverted U-shaped relationship between local digitalization and substantive green sustainable innovation. Estimation results derived from the partial linear functional coefficient model further reveal that “ local-neighboring” environmental regulation nonlinearly moderates the dual effects of digitalization. It enriches the literature on digital transformation and green innovation, providing theoretical insights for Chinese cities as they move toward a new stage of “ dual-transformation coordination” development.