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The impact of information and communication technology on carbon emissions in China: spatial effect and mechanism discussion

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Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has exerted a great impact on the socio-economic development; however, this development has come with some potential influence on climate change. The academics are divided over this issue; some argue that ICT has contributed to carbon reduction, while others consider that ICT has increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Undoubtedly, the existing literature abounds in the relationship between ICT and CO2 emissions, but little attention has been paid to the spillover effect of ICT and CO2 emissions, especially in developing countries. Hence, with the panel data of 285 China’s prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2018, this study innovatively discusses the spatial and mechanism effects of ICT on CO2 emissions, further exploring the heterogeneous impact of ICT on CO2 emissions from multiple perspectives. The empirical results confirm the positive relationship between ICT and CO2 emissions and identify the spatial spillover effect in the relationship. Furthermore, notably, the intermediary effect of energy consumption on the impact of ICT on CO2 emissions is identified. Finally, due to the differences in the geographical position, population size, and urban agglomeration of prefecture-level cities in China, the impact of ICT on CO2 emissions varies in different cities. The findings not only contribute to advancing the existing literature but also have a significant and targeted policy guiding significance for the cities to maximize the favorable influences of ICT and promote the low-carbon transformation of the whole society.

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Data availability

The data used in the study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study is supported by the Graduate Scientific Research Foundation of Hangzhou Dianzi University (CXJJ2022018).

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  1. College of Economics, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, 310018

    Gan Liu & Sanyu Wan

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  1. Gan Liu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Liu Gan and Wan Sanyu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Liu Gan and Wan Sanyu. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gan Liu.

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Liu, G., Wan, S. The impact of information and communication technology on carbon emissions in China: spatial effect and mechanism discussion. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 16178–16194 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23201-7

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