Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Digital Flood? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China's National Information Consumption Pilot Program

Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Digital Flood? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China's National Information Consumption Pilot Program | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Digital Flood? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China's National Information Consumption Pilot Program Zhichen Yang, Yisen Chen, Sijia Li, Huiyu He, Haoyang Zhou This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8927183/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper exploits the implementation of China’s National Information Consumption Pilot Program between 2007 and 2022 as a quasi-natural experiment to examine its impact on urban green energy efficiency. The results show that the policy significantly enhanced green energy efficiency in pilot cities. Mechanism analysis indicates that the policy operates through three channels: facilitating factor mobility, fostering innovation capacity, and strengthening industrial agglomeration. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the effects are stronger in cities with higher energy intensity, non-resource-based economies, stricter environmental regulations, and greater fiscal capacity. Moreover, moderation tests demonstrate that the level of digital economic development amplifies the policy’s effectiveness, particularly through digital–physical integration and digital inclusive finance. information consumption policy green energy efficiency factor mobility innovation industrial agglomeration Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8927183","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":607563987,"identity":"5d194a79-4571-480f-adeb-65f9a6887c17","order_by":0,"name":"Zhichen Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhichen","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":607563988,"identity":"5a22e8b7-a3cb-457f-ae94-e3189586ca38","order_by":1,"name":"Yisen Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chinese Academy of Social Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yisen","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":607563989,"identity":"5145cdb4-cd19-4be3-bc17-fc9dd290c117","order_by":2,"name":"Sijia Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIie3RMWoCQRTG8bc8mG0+3faBHuKJsKRY9CoLC1NtYWlpZeUBPIZHGDMk2+wBUqQwBFKvXYoQnQOIY7oU86vfn8ebIUqSf2jM3J2H9QVLz/40aLWIJiY3lqXnKXVbO9uvbBNPCpQ02nJFfa8TDM/ZJpqwsScxBtne1vNKHVPuXw73E+50BYClcZ+tvo8J1r5FttQSwEjY0uoXk6CMJFCBKiCtTp7UZ5sHklJQ1xCE8+mxxDRzcQ6ah0feqW1M7Jai8MeP869bKoev/P6pFkXuX+8mN/b+bTxJkiS55QofYEHUhFgSHAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sijia","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":607563990,"identity":"87c94998-6349-42a5-bd2b-5e51e2670b5d","order_by":3,"name":"Huiyu He","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huiyu","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":607563993,"identity":"4bf4190a-9155-4e38-8066-c773dcbe60f5","order_by":4,"name":"Haoyang Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haoyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-20 15:09:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8927183/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8927183/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107480414,"identity":"bca35312-2b78-407d-ae80-004e8a95e57e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-22 02:10:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":644729,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptwithauthordetails..pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8927183/v1_covered_d708d452-7db0-4e43-9e70-02dbec08f84e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Digital Flood? 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