Interplay of Digital Economy and Real Economy: How to Integrate and What Drives it?

With the sustained advancement of China's digital economy and real economy, their integration has emerged as a prominent area of academic inquiry. This study employs the entropy weight method to assess the developmental levels of China's digital economy and real economy, evaluating their integrated development status. Subsequently, panel regression analysis is conducted to elucidate the direction and magnitude of factors influencing this integration. Furthermore, a threshold model is constructed to investigate the nonlinear threshold effects of these determinants. The empirical findings yield several key insights. First, from 2013 to 2022, China witnessed a consistent upward trajectory in the integration of its digital and real economies, albeit with pronounced regional disparities. Second, the developmental levels of both the digital economy and the real economy exhibit statistically significant positive effects on integration, a result robust across all four regions. Third, threshold regression analysis reveals the presence of nonlinear effects when the following variables serve as threshold parameters, digital economy development level, real economy development level, regional economic development, demographic structure, government support, foreign investment, and environmental conditions. Notably, as these threshold variables optimize, both sectors demonstrate promotional effects on integrationhowever, the marginal contribution of the digital economy exhibits diminishing returns, whereas that of the real economy displays increasing returns. Based on these findings, this study proposes the following policy recommendations: (1) prioritize coordinated development between the digital and real economies, (2) align talent cultivation strategies with contemporary developmental paradigms, (3) strengthen governmental support for economic transformation, and (4) incorporate environmental sustainability into digital economy development initiatives.

In the digital transformation era, understanding the relationship between digital and real economies is vital for regional development. This study analyses the interaction between these two economies in Henan Province using panel data from 18 cities (2011–2023). It incorporates policy support intensity through fuzzy set theory, applies an integrated weighting method to measure development levels, and uses regression models to assess the digital economy’s impact on the real economy. The coupling coordination degree model, kernel density estimation, and Gini coefficient reveal the coordination status and spatial distribution, while the ecological Lotka–Volterra model identifies the symbiotic patterns. The key findings are as follows: (1) The digital economy does not directly determine the state of the real economy. For example, cities such as Zhoukou and Zhumadian have low digital economy levels but high real economy levels. However, the development of the digital economy promotes the real economy without signs of diminishing returns. (2) The two economies are generally coordinated but differ spatially, with greater coordination in the Central Plains urban agglomeration. (3) The digital and real economies exhibit both collaboration and competition, with reciprocal mutualism as the dominant mode of integration. These insights provide guidance for policymakers and offer a new perspective on the integration of both economies.

The rising integration of China’s digital economy with its real economy is propelling the global economy toward a new stage of system reconstruction, profoundly affecting the economic and social development, national governance, and lives of various countries. Formulating and implementing a development strategy for the digital economy is crucial for China. However, there is a lack of research on the innovation-driven relationship between the digital economy and the real economy using authoritative statistics. This paper addresses this gap by adopting Romer’s R&D model and theories from other scholars, thereby constructing an innovation-driven analysis model. Leveraging over 10,000 authoritative statistics and econometric regression, it quantitatively assesses the innovation-driven effect of China’s digital economy on the real economy at both national and regional levels. The study concludes with empirical-based development suggestions to promote the profound integration and innovation within China’s digital and real economies, thereby offering an objective and valuable reference.

Research on the impact of the integration of digital economy and real economy on enterprise green innovation

The current society has entered the era of digital economy, and the digital economy has become a new driving force to promote the transformation and upgrading of the real economy. The development of the digital economy provides a new platform and new space for the transformation of the real economy. In the context of the national strategy of the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy (“digital-real integration”), retail enterprises are also facing unprecedented new opportunities and challenges. Private domain operation is becoming an important hand for retail enterprises to reconstruct their business model and enhance user value. Through the private domain operation to achieve digital transformation, private domain operation to promote the rapid integration of the digital economy and the real economy of retail enterprises, this paper in the integration of the two development overview of the analysis and research based on further analysis of the private domain operation how to promote the digital economy and the real economy in-depth integration, want to realize the digital economy and the real economy of the retail enterprise to provide a certain direction, and then effectively promote the high-quality development of the economy.

The biggest difference between the rapid spread of coronavirus around the world and past crises is that it directly affects the real economy. Global expansion affects not only foreign demand but also global supply chains. The global economy stagnated in the second quarter of this year, creating great uncertainty about the country's post-epidemic recovery. Based on this, this paper studies the impact of the epidemic on China's real economy. This paper discusses the outbreak of the huge impact on the real economy and real economy take off the real to virtual origin, trajectory and impact of COVID - 19 outbreak could trigger a new round of economic take off the real to virtual risk, targeted put forward the countermeasures, and from the short-term fiscal and monetary policies to strengthen the reverse cycle adjustment and push forward the reform for a long time short response are put forward, on the impact of the real economy of the outbreak digital transformation were studied. Research shows that the digitization and knowledge-based transformation of the real economy has been significantly accelerated, with thousands of enterprises together accelerating the integration of big data and the real economy. These real economies will further promote the growth of national economy while consolidating, changing and improving data distribution and mining value.

The real economy is an important foundation of China's national economy. With the rapid development of digital technology, many new industries have been derived, such as Internet of Things and blockchain. The development of digital economy has brought great influence to China's real economy. Based on this, this paper analyzes the direct and indirect effects of digital economy development on real economy, combining with the development status of digital economy and real economy. Then, on the basis of analyzing the relationship between digital economy and real economy, it discusses the significance of the integration of digital economy and real economy, and finally puts forward some suggestions to promote the integration of digital economy and real economy for reference.

The purpose of this study is to explore the integration of the digital economy and the real economy to drive the development of internationally competitive digital industrial clusters. By analyzing literature data and investigating the development of various industries and industrial economies, we categorized the types of the real economy based on the economic function dimension. This study comprehensively analyzed the digital economy and real economy, with a focus on their intersection. Our findings indicate that the integration of these two economies can be categorized based on their economic function, providing a comprehensive understanding of the various forms and their application range, reflecting the fundamental aspect of economic realization. The characteristics of the digital economy and real economy not only capture the overall traits of various forms but also highlight their unique features. The proposed paths for integrating the digital economy and real economy, designed with a systematic thinking approach, are practical and effective. These integrated forms encompass the key types of future economic development and represent the commanding heights of future economic competition. Developing the integration of the digital economy and real economy based on their morphological characteristics and corresponding paths is crucial for achieving high-quality economic development.

The progression of the digital economy (DE), serving as a novel method and catalyst for superior economic growth in the fresh development phase, holds immense relevance in strengthening China's tangible economy, escalating international competitiveness, and formulating a new developmental layout. To actualize the fresh developmental notion and model, enhancing the profound amalgamation of the digital and real economy is key. This plays a vital role in fostering the supply-side structural transformation, evolving the economic developmental methods, and accomplishing superior economic growth. Utilizing the endogenous growth theory structure, we unfold the mechanism of data elements driving the quick growth of the DE and inspect the vast scope for merging China's digital and real economy. On this premise, this article aligns it with China's innovation-fueled development tactic, and proposes strategies and recommendations for steering the deep integration of the digital and tangible economy. These proposals emphasize the top-level blueprint, data governance, data security, classification and amalgamation, and human capital.

The current short video platform is growing rapidly and enjoyable to the public, attracting us to focus on the development process and advantageous impact of the Internet economy. We will collect data on the number of users and profits of short video platforms in recent years, as well as the losses brought to the real economy, to further analyze the relationship between the Internet economy and the real economy. In general, the Internet economy and the real economy have their own advantages and disadvantages, and currently appear to be incompatible with each other in terms of impact patterns. However, the internet economy and the real economy are inseparable and complementary, and in the future we will study and promote their joint development to achieve a win-win situation.

Digital economy empowers enterprises to decrease financialization: evidence from e-commerce demonstration cities

Due to the improvement of information technology, the emergence of 5G network, and the rapid development of global informatization, the Internet economy, as an emerging force, has developed rapidly, and gradually formed a network economy and society with Internet as the center. By April 2023, the number of Internet users worldwide has reached 8.5 billion. In this case, more and more people advocate Internet finance, the real economy has been affected to a certain extent. The real economy is the source and cornerstone of social development, marking the economic development level of a country or region. How to improve the growth of the real economy has been the focus of the municipal government. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of Internet finance on the real economy, find out the reasons for the slow development of the real economy, and explore how to use Internet finance to promote the development of the real economy. By using iterature review and some data from the Internet, this article finds that Internet finance will promote and hinder the development of the real economy.

The development of digital economy is an important path to promote the integration and high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta region, so this paper firstly measures the correlation between the development level of digital economy in the Yangtze River Delta in 2018 and 2019, and analyzes the characteristics of its network structure by using the social network model; secondly, it establishes the panel fixed-effects model, and empirically analyzes the relationship between the development of digital economy in the Yangtze River Delta and the real economy. It is found that the degree of aggregation of the digital economy network model is inversely correlated with the level of development of the real economy; the digital economy has a facilitating effect on the real economy, and green finance is an important positive transmission mechanism. This paper provides new ideas and paths for how the digital economy empowers the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta integration, as well as empirical evidence and effective suggestions on how to promote the better development of the real economy.

The digital economy (DE) and real economy (RE) are dual pillars of the modern economic system. The deep integration of the digital economy and real economy (IDR) has emerged as a pivotal strategic trend. IDR not only can enhance international competitiveness but also contributes to sustainable development goals. This work collects DE and RE data from 30 provinces in China between 2012 and 2022. The entropy weight method and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model are employed to measure the level of IDR. Furthermore, the Dagum Gini coefficient, Kernel density estimation, the spatial autocorrelation model, and the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model are utilized to analyze the spatial–temporal evolution and influencing factors of CCD. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) During the study period, CCD shows an upward trend, but the value is relatively low. (2) There are significant spatial differences in CCD, and the inter-regional difference is the primary cause. (3) The regional differences in CCD are continuously widening. (4) CCD shows an obvious global spatial agglomeration feature, and the spatial agglomeration degree of CCD has been enhanced from 2012 to 2022. (5) The policy intensity, digital infrastructure, industrial structure, human capital, technological innovation, and market environment have significant impacts on CCD. The obtained findings provide important theoretical support for the coordinated development of DE and RE.

The global industrial structure and trade patterns have changed significantly with the full penetration of digital information technology into social and economic life. The digital economy has become a core driving force for global economic growth, and the development of the digital economy has gradually become the consensus of all economies in the world. The article breaks through the traditional perspective to understand the digital economy. It proposes that economic factors drive the digital world's development, digital knowledge and information are the critical production factors of the digital economy, and the digital economy wealth is concentrated in a few platform companies' hands. In the digital economy era, the business ecology is experiencing innovative destruction, the real economy and retail industry are suffering heavy losses, while the information industry and digital platforms are ushering in explosive growth. Based on natural ecology principles, the article deconstructs and analyzes the digital business ecology, and proposes business development strategies such as maintaining the diversification of business forms, promoting digital empowering the real economy, the digital transformation of the real economy and digital industrialization. The article discusses platform monopoly and competition, including platform characteristics analysis, economic causes, anti-monopoly investigation cases, and the relationship between monopoly, innovation, and competition. The authorities must not ignore behaviours that harm market competition due to competition's dynamic nature and develop digital economy tolerantly and prudently, maintaining the economic ecology's diversity and balance.