Breaking mineral resource curse through digital economy: Resource-based regions' sustainable path in the age of digitalization

Abstract

As a new economic driver, the digital economy emerged globally in recent years. However, its potential role in alleviating the mineral resource curse may be disregarded. In this paper, urban mineral resource curse and digital economy are scientifically quantified through the data of 265 Chinese cities in 2009–2019. The FE model and spatial Durbin model are employed to examine the direct effects, specific mechanisms as well as spillover effects of digital economy on mineral resource curse. When digital economy is less than 0.123, the digital economy results in a worse mineral resource curse, but when digital economy exceeds 0.123, it turns into an enabler for breaking the mineral resource curse. Green total factor productivity, industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation are not only the major mechanisms for digital economy to break mineral resource curse, but also essential channels for the inverted U-shaped relationship. According to the heterogeneity analysis, mineral resource-based cities or cursed cities derive greater benefits for breaking mineral resource curse from digitalization process.