Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
College of Business, University of Doha for Science and Technology, Doha, Qatar.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jan 5;11:1301627. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1301627. eCollection 2023.
Information and communication technology (ICT) has great potential to propel economic development toward a low-carbon direction. This study aims to investigate the effect of ICT development on total-factor carbon emission efficiency (TFCEE), as well as its public health co-benefits. We use dynamic (threshold) models and a panel of 30 Chinese provinces from 2008 to 2019. The results suggest that ICT significantly and positively impacts the TFCEE. Specifically, for every 10 per cent increase in the internet development index, the TFCEE increases by 0.11 per cent. Moreover, we find that ICT development indirectly improves the TFCEE by promoting green innovation and energy structure optimization. Furthermore, when green innovation (energy structure represented by the share of coal) switches from below to above (above to below) its threshold value, the promotion effect of ICT development on the TFCEE increases. Additionally, the results show that improving the TFCEE can lead to co-benefits in strengthening China's public health. This study delivers novel insights on promoting the TFCEE through the ICT channel and highlights its positive health-related externalities. Furthermore, we offer policy recommendations to Chinese decision-makers, which can apply to other emerging economies battling similar issues.
信息和通信技术（ICT）具有巨大的潜力，可以推动经济发展向低碳方向发展。本研究旨在探讨 ICT 发展对全要素碳排放效率（TFCEE）的影响，以及其对公共卫生的协同效益。我们使用动态（阈值）模型和 2008 年至 2019 年中国 30 个省份的面板数据。结果表明，ICT 对 TFCEE 具有显著的正向影响。具体来说，互联网发展指数每增加 10%，TFCEE 就会增加 0.11%。此外，我们发现 ICT 发展通过促进绿色创新和能源结构优化，间接地提高了 TFCEE。此外，当绿色创新（以煤炭占比表示的能源结构）从低于阈值切换到高于阈值（高于阈值切换到低于阈值）时，ICT 发展对 TFCEE 的促进作用会增强。此外，研究结果表明，提高 TFCEE 可以带来加强中国公共卫生的协同效益。本研究通过 ICT 渠道为促进 TFCEE 提供了新的见解，并强调了其与健康相关的积极外部性。此外，我们为中国决策者提供了政策建议，这些建议也适用于其他面临类似问题的新兴经济体。
