Digital Economy, Innovation Environment and Industrial Upgrading: Based on the Adjustment Effect and Threshold Model

Abstract

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2020, we construct an adjustment effect model and a threshold model with residents’ consumption demand, labor force quality and financial resources as the moderating variables, and residents’ consumption demand as the threshold variable, in order to explore the influence process of digital economy on industrial upgrading. The empirical results show that: (1) The development level of digital economy has a significantly positive impact on the rationalization and advancement of industrial structure; (2) Residents’ consumption demand, labor force quality and financial resources all play a significant positive adjustment role in the digital economy-empowered industrial upgrading; (3) There exists a threshold effect in the digital economy-empowered industrial upgrading, i.e., when the residents’ consumption demand is between the two thresholds, the digital economy-empowered industrial structure rationalization is significantly promoted; when residents’ consumption demand crosses the first threshold, the digital economy-empowered industrial structure advancement is remarkably enhanced.