Can the digital economy enhance urban ecological environment resilience?

Can the digital economy enhance urban ecological environment resilience? | 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 Article Can the digital economy enhance urban ecological environment resilience? Lianghu Wang, Jun Shao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6902783/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Enhancing urban ecological environment resilience enables cities to more effectively withstand, adapt to, and recover from external risks and disturbances, thereby safeguarding the stability and sustainability of urban ecosystems. Investigating the impact of the digital economy on ecological environment resilience and its underlying mechanisms can further enrich our understanding of the environmental effects of digitalisation. Accordingly, this study explores the intrinsic mechanisms and evaluates the effects of the digital economy in boosting urban ecological environment resilience through both theoretical analysis and empirical examination. The study finds that the development of the digital economy can significantly enhance urban ecological environment resilience, a conclusion that remains robust after rigorous robustness and endogeneity tests. Nonlinear regression results indicate that the marginal effect of the digital economy dynamically varies across different stages of urban ecological environment resilience development. Heterogeneity analysis reveals significant regional disparities, developmental stage differences, and scale-based variations in the impact of the digital economy on urban ecological environment resilience. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the digital economy strengthens urban ecological environment resilience primarily through green technology innovation, structural upgrading effects, and enhanced environmental governance. Further extended analysis suggests that, while the digital economy improves ecological environment resilience, it does not significantly narrow the interregional gaps in resilience levels. Social science/Development studies Social science/Environmental studies Digital economy Urban ecological environment resilience Green technology innovation Structural upgrading Environmental governance Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 24 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 07 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 25 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 27 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 11 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 27 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Aug, 2025 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. 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