Spatial and Temporal Effects of Digital Technology Development on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China

In the context of digital economy and low carbon economy, digital technology is an important tool to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Based on the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2011–2019, to empirically test the time-lagged effect and spatial spillover effect of digital technology development on carbon emissions, the entropy method was used to measure the comprehensive index of digital technology development after applying the dynamic spatial Durbin model. The research results show that: (1) Carbon emissions have time inertia and positive spatial correlation, specifically the spatial characteristics of “high in the north and low in the south”; the overall level of digital technology development is improving; however, the spatial differences are gradually expanding, showing a spatial layout of east, west and middle gradient decline. (2) In both the short term and long term, digital technology development has a significant positive impact on reducing carbon emissions in the region. The long-term inhibitory effect of digital technology development on carbon emissions is more obvious than the short-term effect. (3) Unlike the existing studies indicating that digital technology development contributes to reduce carbon emissions in neighboring regions, digital technology development does not have a positive spatial spillover effect on carbon emissions in spatially connected regions. Therefore, policy makers should take into account spatial effects when promoting the penetration and application of digital technologies in environmental governance.