The impact of digital economy on the energy efficiency of Chinese industrial enterprises

CHEN Yufan; YAO Xingjia; WANG Zhuoran; WU Zhengxun; CHI Yuanying

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-9605.2025.1.mtjjyj202501003

Abstract：In recent years,the rapid development of digital economy has provided new development opportunities for industrial enterprises,which not only shows great potential in improving production efficiency and innovating business models,but also plays an important role in optimizing energy use and enhancing energy efficiency.Based on the data of each province in China from 2011 to 2021,this paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system of digital economic development,and calculates the index of digital economy for each province in China.By constructing a fixed effect model,the study examines the impact of digital economy on energy efficiency.The research finds that digital economy has a significant positive impact on the energy efficiency of industrial enterprises in China,and that the energy efficiency will increase by 3.721％for every 1％increase in the digital economy index.After a series of robustness tests,the conclusion remains unchanged.The heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of digital economy on energy efficiency in eastern provinces is not significant,while it has a greater impact on industrial enterprises in regions with upgraded industrial structure.Therefore,it is suggested that while paying attention to the level of digital economy itself,efforts should also be made to optimize the industrial structure and adjust regional differences,thus improving the overall digitalization level of Chinese industrial enterprises and helping them better adapt to the development needs of the digital economy era,achieving sustainable development,and achieving coordinated development of economy,society and environment.