Research on the Impact of Digital Economy on Ecological Efficiency

Abstract

As a key force driving economic and social development, studying whether the digital economy can improve ecological efficiency is of great practical significance. This article is based on existing research in the academic community, combined with theories such as endogenous growth and externalities, as well as the characteristics and laws of the digital economy, and proposes research hypotheses. Subsequently, panel data from 29 provinces and cities in China from 2011 to 2020 were selected for empirical research on research hypotheses. The entropy method and the unexpected super efficiency SBM model were used to calculate the digital economy and ecological efficiency, mainly analyzing the impact of the digital economy on the improvement of ecological efficiency. In terms of robustness testing, by replacing explanatory variables, excluding municipalities directly under the central government, and selecting instrumental variables, through empirical analysis, this article concludes that the digital economy has an improvement effect on ecological efficiency.