Nonlinear impact of digital innovation on regional economic growth: empirical evidence from Chinese data

This study aims to determine how digital innovation, constructed from two dimensions (digital technology innovation and digital application innovation), affects regional economic growth. A threshold model with the institutional environment as the threshold variable was constructed. The results of this study are as follows: (1) Digital technology innovation and digital application innovation significantly contribute to regional economic growth. The driving effect shows regional heterogeneity, with a pattern of ‘Central > East > West’. (2) With the gradual improvement of the institutional environment, the impact of digital technology innovation on regional economic growth shows a positive marginal incremental effect, and the impact of digital application innovation on regional economic growth shows U-shaped nonlinear characteristics.