How does the digital economy improve high-quality energy development? The case of China

High-quality energy development (HED) is conducive to achieving a win-win situation for economic development and carbon emission reduction in the context of the current “carbon neutrality” constraints in China, and the digital economy will likely accelerate the achievement of its goals. To verify the above hypothesis, based on China's provincial panel dataset from 2007 to 2017, this paper uses a dynamic panel model to estimate the nexus between the digital economy and HED and further explores their heterogeneous influence. The main results indicate that: (1) the digital economy positively affects HED in China; in other words, a 1 % increase in the digital economy index will boost HED by an average of 0.191 %; (2) the results of heterogeneity show that the influence of the digital economy on HED is stronger in regions with higher digital economy indexes and higher HED indexes; and (3) the digital economy positively affects HED through the innovation and application sub-indicator and the economic growth and jobs sub-indicator. We also provide policy implications for governments and scholars in related fields for reference.