Research Paper Analysis

Measurement and Spatial Effects of Digital Economy in Guangdong Province——An Empirical Analysis of 21 Prefecture-Level Cities

Authors: Bingqian Zhang, Chugeng Xu, Guanrui Huang

The digital economy, characterized by digital technologies and network information systems, has emerged as a transformative force reshaping the contemporary global economic landscape. Employing cross-sectional data from 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province for 2022, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation framework encompassing four dimensions: digital industrialization, industrial digitalization, digital infrastructure, and digital innovation. We apply the entropy-weighted TOPSIS methodology to quantify the digital economy development level across municipalities and subsequently employ spatial econometric models to investigate the driving factors from a spatial spillover perspective. Our empirical findings reveal that economic development, human capital endowment, industrial structure sophistication, and governmental policy support exert significant positive effects on urban digital economy advancement. Furthermore, the Pearl River Delta region, functioning as the nucleus of digital economic development, demonstrates robust growth dynamics that not only sustain its own developmental trajectory but also generate positive spatial spillover effects to neighboring municipalities through knowledge dissemination, technological transfer, and talent mobility. While our cross-sectional design precludes causal inference and temporal analysis, these findings provide a baseline assessment of spatial patterns that warrant further longitudinal investigation.