Multidimensional mechanisms and spatial effects of digital economy enabling urban innovation and development in China

Enabling urban innovation and development with the digital economy is an important manifestation of the new development concept. This study examined the multidimensional influence mechanism of the digital economy on the innovation and development of Chinese cities. Based on a panel data set of 275 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2010 to 2019, the mechanism was analyzed by using spatial econometric models and other methods for revealing the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the level of urban innovation (LUI). The results of the study show that: 1) During the study period, LUI in Chinese cities showed an uneven development, with a tendency to widen the development differences between regions, and a significant and stable spatial agglomeration distribution characteristic. 2) Nationwide, the development of digital infrastructure (DIF) and digital industry (DID) only helped to raise LUI within the regions, while digital technology (DT) had a stronger permeability and diffusion effect in promoting LUI. 3) The multidimensional development levels of the digital economy all showed a positive effect on the innovation levels of cities in the eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions, but only digital technology passed the test of significance in the models for all four broad regions. In terms of city type heterogeneity, digital technology also showed the strongest influence and technology diffusion effects. This study expanded the research perspective of digital economy-enabled innovation and development, and provides decision-making references for utilizing digital economy to promote urban innovation and development.