Spatial Characteristics and Driving Factors Toward the Digital Economy: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China

The digital economy is becoming an increasingly important source of regional competitiveness enhancement. The purpose of this research is to examine the spatial distribution characteristics of China’s digital economy from 2016 to 2019. Moran’s I analysis was performed to see if China’s digital economy has spatial self-correlation. The Getis-Ord General G test was used to determine the clustering type of China’s digital economy. In addition, we used OLS and GWR methodologies to figure out what drives China’s digital economy level. The findings show that the digital economy is rapidly expanding throughout China; yet, there is a significant regional imbalance in the digital economy level in China, and the agglomeration of the digital economy is increasing over time. Furthermore, the findings reveal that human capital, information staff, telegram income, and Internet access are vital factors in the development of the digital economy. To close the digital economy gap, policymakers must invest in human capital and technology innovation. Simultaneously, the government must speed up the development and implementation of electronic information services.