The impacts on regional “resource curse” by digital economy: Based on panel data analysis of 262 resource-based cities in China

Abstract

Resource-based cities are areas with high incidence of “resource curse”, and digital economy is a pivotal force to avoid regional “resource curse” of resource-based cities. Based on panel data from 262 resource-based cities in China from 2013 to 2022, this article explores the impacts of digital economy on the social & economic development, further analyzes the direct and indirect effects by using an intermediary model, and evaluates the role of digital economy in the transformation of resource-based cities. The results shows that: 1) digital economy is conducive to alleviating “resources curse” of resource-based cities. 2) Technological investment is the optimal path to break away from the “resources curse” of resource-based cities. 3) The impact of digital economy on “resources curse” of resource-based cities has significant heterogeneity, where the improvement on the “resources curse” of growth resource-based cities is more significant. Some suggestions are giving as following: 1) accelerate the “digital infrastructure” of resource-based cities and enhance the digital supply capacity. 2) Clarify the positioning of the core industries of the digital economy and speed up the digitization of industries in resource-based cities. 3) Forming differentiated digital economy development strategies for resource-based cities to support the industrial structure adjustment and industry cultivation.