Internet Development and Green Total Factor Productivity: New Evidence of Mediation and Threshold Effects

Abstract

The strategy of sustainable development is not only a long-term plan for the survival and development of the Chinese nation, but also an inevitable requirement for the coordinated economic and social development of all countries in the world. With the rapid development of new-generation information technology, the Internet may play an even more important role in the implementation of sustainable development strategies. Using China’s interprovincial panel data from 2011 to 2020, this paper examines the impact of internet development on green total factor productivity (GTFP) and its mechanism of action using a two-way fixed-effects panel model, a mediation effects model and a threshold effects model. The results show that, firstly, internet development can significantly promote the increase in GTFP, and this conclusion still holds after several robustness tests; secondly, internet development can indirectly promote GTFP through optimizing industrial structure, human capital structure and improving technological innovation; thirdly, based on a single threshold effect of advanced industrial structure, advanced human capital and internet development, the impact of the Internet on GTFP is found to be nonlinear. Finally, our study provides policy recommendations for the promotion of green total factor productivity in China.