TITLE:
A Configurational Pathway Analysis of Digital Economy and Green Technology Innovation
AUTHORS:
Jing Jiang
KEYWORDS:
Green Technology Innovation, Digital Economy, Configurational Effects, fsQCA, Urban Areas
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.16 No.2,
February
20,
2025
ABSTRACT: Green technological innovation is essential for promoting high-quality regional economic growth. The digital economy, characterized by penetration, integration, and sustainability, significantly enhances the efficiency of green innovation. However, existing research has largely focused on singular aspects of green development, overlooking comprehensive configurational analyses and the varied development pathways of cities. This gap hinders the identification of optimal and suboptimal strategies. To examine the configurational effects and driving mechanisms of urban digital economy development within the context of green technological innovation, 25 cities in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region were selected as the research sample. Four key dimensions were analyzed: digital infrastructure, digital information development, digital innovation, and digital inclusive finance. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method was employed, and multiple high-efficiency configurational pathways among these cities were identified. Significant variation in the core and auxiliary conditions of these pathways was observed, underscoring the importance of multidimensional synergies in the digital economy as a driving force for enhancing the efficiency of green technological innovation. It was found that the relationship between digital economy development and green technological innovation is complex, with no single factor driving the prosperity of green innovation. Two high-efficiency pathways for green technological innovation were identified: the “information infrastructure-financial inclusion” pathway and the multi-factor integrated driving models of “information-innovation-inclusion”. Constructive recommendations were provided for cities with high-efficiency and low-efficiency pathways to enhance green innovation outcomes.