Digital Transformation, Innovation Ecosystem Coordination, And Urban Low-carbon Innovation: Evidence from China

Mengyu Shi; Liming Chen

doi:10.6911/

Authors

Mengyu Shi
Liming Chen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6911/

Keywords:

Digital transformation, innovation ecosystem coordination, low-carbon innovation, environmental regulation, public environmental concern.

Abstract

Climate challenges, exemplified by global warming, necessitate deeper low-carbon innovation in urban areas, wherein digital transformation emerges as a pivotal enabler. In this context, this study reveals how digitalization intrinsically shapes urban low-carbon innovation from the perspective of innovation ecosystem coordination. It constructs a theoretical framework with innovation ecosystem coordination as the mediating variable and environmental regulatory intensity and public environmental concern as the moderating variables. Empirical analysis of panel data covering 273 Chinese cities (2011–2021) substantiates the hypotheses. Results demonstrate that digitalization significantly fosters urban low-carbon innovation, with ecosystem coordination fully mediating this relationship. Environmental regulation attenuates digitalization's positive effect on innovation ecosystem coordination, which is more robust in cities with higher public environmental concerns; however, innovation ecosystem coordination contributes less to low-carbon innovation in cities with strict environmental regulations or high public environmental concerns. These findings furnish novel empirical support for digitalization's catalytic role in low-carbon innovation while illuminating the underlying nexus between digital transformation and urban sustainability based on the innovation ecosystem perspective, which is important for harmonizing digitalization and decarbonization trajectories in China.

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