A pathway to sustainable development: Digitization and green productivity

Green productivity plays an important role in sustainable development, social energy conservation, and emission reduction targets. To investigate the impact of digital development on green total factor productivity, this research employs panel data of China's Yangtze River Delta from 2002 to 2020. First, this paper presents the super SBM method with unexpected output to comprehensively and systematically calculate the green total factor productivity (GTFP) index. Second, we use the partial linear function coefficient (PLFC) model, which can distinguish spatial-temporal heterogeneity, analyze how digital development improves GTFP, and evaluate the effect of human capital (HC) and industrial structure upgrading (IS) in this relationship. In addition, we conduct a comparative study between this delta region and other regions in China. The results of this paper are as follows. (1) Digitization has a significant and positive influence on GTFP for all samples. (2) HC and IS affect the role of digital development in promoting GTFP of cities in the Yangtze River Delta, but their impact is not significant in the three northeastern provinces. (3) The stimulation effect shows significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity under the influence of HC and IS. Provincial capitals and economically developed cities have the most prominent stimulating influence. Lastly, based on the non-parametric relevance between digital development and GTFP, this paper gives constructive and practical policy suggestions to improve GTFP and promote green economic development.