Open Access Journal Article

Digital Economy and Energy Intensity: The Light and Dark Side

by Zheng-Yuan Yang a,*  and  Lei Ye a
a
School of Marxism, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
REA  2024 3(4):42; https://doi.org/10.58567/rea03040005
Received: 20 November 2024 / Accepted: 24 December 2024 / Published Online: 21 January 2025
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Abstract

The digital economy exerts both positive and negative influences on urban sustainable development, yet there is a notable gap in the existing research concerning its impact on energy intensity and the underlying mechanisms. this study pioneers the investigation of a nonlinear relationship between the digital economy and energy intensity, revealing a significant inverted U-shaped relationship. Specifically, we observe a noteworthy reduction in energy intensity when the digital economy index surpasses 0.286. Our empirical findings indicate that the digital economy not only directly influences energy intensity but also exerts an indirect impact through initiatives such as the promotion of green innovation and the agglomeration of high-tech industries. Importantly, the promotional effects of the digital economy exhibit heterogeneity with respect to geographical location, resource endowment, and urban scale. This paper contributes to the theoretical understanding of information technology in urban green development by analyzing the mechanisms of the digital economy at the urban level and its intricate impact on energy intensity.

Keywords: Digital Economy; Energy Intensity; Green Innovation; High-Tech Industrial Agglomeration;
Copyright: © 2025 by Yang and Ye. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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ACS Style
Yang, Z.; Ye, L. Digital Economy and Energy Intensity: The Light and Dark Side. Review of Economic Assessment, 2024, 3, 42. https://doi.org/10.58567/rea03040005
AMA Style
Yang Z, Ye L. Digital Economy and Energy Intensity: The Light and Dark Side. Review of Economic Assessment; 2024, 3(4):42. https://doi.org/10.58567/rea03040005
Chicago/Turabian Style
Yang, Zheng-Yuan; Ye, Lei 2024. "Digital Economy and Energy Intensity: The Light and Dark Side" Review of Economic Assessment 3, no.4:42. https://doi.org/10.58567/rea03040005
APA style
Yang, Z., & Ye, L. (2024). Digital Economy and Energy Intensity: The Light and Dark Side. Review of Economic Assessment, 3(4), 42. https://doi.org/10.58567/rea03040005

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