Digital Economy, Industrial Structure and Common Prosperity

Abstract

China is actively promoting the development of the digital economy and advancing industrial structural upgrades as an essential path toward achieving common prosperity. This is also a hot topic of research among numerous scholars. This study is based on national annual data from 2013 to 2022, utilizing an authoritative indicator system and assigning values to core variables using proportional and entropy methods. The relationship between the digital economy, industrial structure, and common prosperity was explored using the least squares method, mediation effect model, and difference-in-differences method. The conclusions are as follows: The level of digital economic development directly impacts the index of common prosperity, exhibiting a nonlinear structure in the form of an arc but overall showing a positive correlation. Both the level of digital economic development and the index of industrial structural upgrades are positively correlated with the index of common prosperity, indicating the presence of a mediation effect. After incorporating the mediating variables, the regression equation model showed improved significance levels and optimized fit, suggesting that the mediating variables enhance the explanatory power of the regression equation model. The results of the difference-in-differences model, validated through significance-level tests, demonstrate that national policies promoting the development of the digital economy can positively impact common prosperity. In conclusion, the following recommendations are provided: strengthening the construction of digital infrastructure, fostering innovative enterprises in the digital economy, promoting research and application of digital technologies, enhancing the cultivation of digital talents and skills, and reinforcing policy guidance and support.