Can digital finance alleviate the resource curse? Evidence from resource-based cities in China

Abstract

This paper investigates how digital nance alleviates the resource curse effect from resource-based cities in China. This paper selects the data from 88 resource-based cities in China from 2011 to 2019 to construct the econometric model test hypothesis. The results show that: (1)Resource curse does exist in Chinese resource-based cities. (2) Digital nance can alleviate the resource curse of resource-based cities in China, and this effect has two signi cant thresholds. (3) The heterogeneity test results show that digital nance's mitigation effect on the resource curse signi cantly differs in cities with different environmental regulation intensities and resource abundance. (4) Using the implementation of the broadband China strategy as the proxy variable of digital nance for the robustness test, the above conclusions are still robust. This paper considers the impact of digital upgrading on the nancial industry and further studies the mitigation effect of digital nance on the resource curse. It provides a new perspective to study the recent changes in traditional issues in the digital era.

The impact of the digital economy on industrial structure upgrading in resource-based cities: Evidence from China

“…First, the digital economy provides essential infrastructure and accelerates technological innovation [53]. Knowledge and talent have an essential impact on innovation activities [54]. The digital economy facilitates the pooling of knowledge and dramatically improves technological innovation [55].…”