Measurement and Analysis of the Digitalization Level in China’s Mineral Resources Industry

Measurement and Analysis of the Digitalization Level in China’s Mineral Resources Industry | 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 Measurement and Analysis of the Digitalization Level in China’s Mineral Resources Industry Rui Jiang, Xiaowei Liu, Hongfeng Jia This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7625044/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Mineral Economics → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract With the acceleration of global digitalization, the mineral resources industry, as a fundamental and strategic sector, plays a critical role in promoting China’s high-quality economic development and ensuring the security of global industrial chains. Within the framework of growth accounting, an industry-specific methodology for measuring digitalization was constructed, and a systematic analysis was conducted using data from 2002–2023. The findings indicate that: (1) the level of digitalization in China’s mineral resources industry has continuously increased, with the growth rate of digital economy value added markedly exceeding that of the industry as a whole; (2) substantial heterogeneity exists within the industry, as mining and beneficiation generally outperform smelting and processing, with oil and gas and coal extraction advancing most rapidly, whereas metal mining has remained persistently lagging; (3) decomposition of the Theil index shows that disparities are mainly derived from within-industry differences, which have gradually converged, reflecting both digital technology diffusion and the catch-up effect. The contribution of this study lies in the development of a more refined measurement framework, through which intra-industry disparities and convergence trends are systematically identified. Such findings are not only of practical relevance for advancing the digital transformation of China’s mineral resources industry, but also provide new empirical evidence and comparative perspectives for international research in mineral economics. Consequently, the results offer a valuable reference for promoting the sustainable transformation of the global mineral resources industry. JEL Classification Codes: Q31; Q32; O33 Mineral resources industry Degree of digitalization Growth accounting ICT capital Industrial heterogeneity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Mineral Economics → 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. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-7625044","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":523654777,"identity":"3523ddf5-f267-440c-89a8-6fea5a5bcd50","order_by":0,"name":"Rui Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kunming University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rui","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":523654778,"identity":"8dd17df8-7a4e-4c19-b34c-69024a420695","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaowei 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