Digital economy, resource endowment, and disruptive energy technologies: Evidence from China
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
The digital economy (DE) has significantly driven disruptive changes in energy technologies, yet its theoretical and empirical foundations remain underexplored. First, we develop an endogenous growth model that integrates the DE as a data-driven factor and energy technologies as a production factor. Second, it empirically examines the relationship between the DE, resource endowment, and disruptive energy technologies (DETs) using a spatial panel threshold model and panel data from 280 Chinese cities. We find that the DE pivotally drives DET advancement. Moreover, the spatial inflow of production factors, shaped by local wages and housing prices, mediates this relationship. Mechanism analysis reveals that urban resource endowment moderates the DE’s impacts on DETs. When urban resource endowment exceeds a threshold, the DE’s effect on DET progress intensifies. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that DE has a stronger influence on DETs in cities with weaker environmental regulations, lower public investment in S&T, and higher innovation quality. There are positive spatial correlations between the progress of the DE in neighboring cities and the advancement of local DETs. However, DETs in neighboring cities exert negative spatial spillovers. The study concludes that leveraging the DE to advance DETs is essential for managing the “co-opetition” dynamics of DETs across cities.
Keywords
co-opetition, digital economy, disruptive energy technologies, resource endowment
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
8-1-2026
ISSN
0954349X
Volume
79
Publication Title
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
99634
Funding Information
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers L2424237, 72434002, L2224059, L2124002]; the National Social Science Foundation of China [grant number: 22VMG014]; the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences [grant number 16JDGC011].
Copyright
subscription content
Content Type
Metadata only
First Page
595
Last Page
608
Recommended Citation
Wang, X., Zhou, Y., Dai, X., & Seet, P. (2026). Digital economy, resource endowment, and disruptive energy technologies: Evidence from China. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 79, 595–608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2026.06.011