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Innovation System Driven by Digital Economy and Its Sustainable Development

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 8496

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Prof. Dr. Yi Su

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Guest Editor

School of Economics and Management, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: innovation management; digital economy; digital transformation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Xuemei Xie

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Guest Editor

School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Interests: innovation and entrepreneurship management

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Dear Colleagues,

Digital technology and digital economy are important ways for every country in the world to promote social and economic progress. The development of the digital economy has changed the traditional business model and the path of regional innovation. It makes technological innovation and economic development move in the direction of high efficiency, green and openness. At the same time, it also promotes the sustainability of regional innovation and regional economic development, and provides methods and ways for high-quality economic development. With the fourth industrial revolution, the innovation systems of countries all over the world have been gradually improved and developed. Digital technology and digital economy are gradually being embedded in the innovation system with their characteristics of high efficiency, directness and sustainability.

Sustainable development is a common development guideline recognized by the international community. Since the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, human development has increasingly focused on the harmony and unity of man and nature. Green, recycling and sustainability have become important keywords in the field of innovation management. In November 2021, the promulgation of the implementation details of the Paris Agreement once again placed environmental governance and sustainable development at the most important position in the development of the international community. In this context, the digital economy has become the main driver of the new economic era, as it uses data and information to guide resource allocation, enable innovative activities and drive economic development. With the continuous development of big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies, digital technology plays an increasingly important role in innovation activities. Therefore, the gradual evolution of innovative behavior and the sustainable development of innovation systems need to rely on digital technologies and the digital economy. This is the core issue to be discussed in this Special Issue.

This Special Issue aims to collect theoretical and empirical studies on the digital economy and sustainable development in innovation systems. The research should mainly cover the following issues.

What is the role of the digital economy in the innovation system?
What is the impact of the digital economy on the innovation system?
How can digital technologies be applied and optimized in corporate innovation?
How can the digital economy enhance the performance of innovation systems?
What are the mechanisms inherent in the digital economy that drive the sustainability of innovation systems?
What are the effects of the digital economy on the sustainable development of innovation systems?
How to establish an effective mechanism to promote the sustainable development of innovation systems?

Prof. Dr. Yi Su
Prof. Dr. Xuemei Xie
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

digital economy
digital technology
big data
internet of things
cloud computing
blockchain
artificial intelligence
green innovation
carbon neutral
carbon peak
circular economy
sustainable development
sharing economy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 1798 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does the Digital Economy Promote Industrial Collaboration and Agglomeration? Evidence from 286 Cities in China

by Senhua Huang, Wenzhong Ye and Feng Han

Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14545; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914545 - 07 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1137

Abstract

Relying on high penetration and strong diffusion capabilities, the digital economy is becoming a new driving force for industrial integration and development. It is of great significance to promote the coordinated development of manufacturing and producer services. This paper took panel data on 286 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2011 to 2019 as its research object, and used the two-way fixed effect model, threshold effect model, and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) as its econometric testing methods. This analysis explored the impact of the digital economy on the synergetic agglomeration between manufacturing and productive service industries in China. The results of the research showed that the synergetic agglomeration of industries is significantly promoted by the digital economy. This conclusion was still valid after an endogeneity test was carried out. The digital economy’s role was found to mainly involve promoting knowledge spillovers and expanding the market size. An in-depth analysis of the digital economy has enabled the collaborative agglomeration of manufacturing and producer services in large, medium-sized, and small cities. The digital economy had the greatest effect on small cities, followed by medium-sized cities and large cities. The synergetic aggregation between the manufacturing and high-end producer services industries is significantly promoted by the digital economy. However, it was not found to have had a significant effect on the synergetic agglomeration between the manufacturing and low-end producer services industries. The impact of the digital economy on industrial collaborative agglomeration is nonlinear. Only when the level of the digital economy exceeds the threshold can the promoting effect of the digital economy on industrial collaborative agglomeration be manifested. In summary, the development of the digital economy was found to have promoted industrial collaboration and agglomeration in the study areas and their neighboring regions in the study period. The research results of this article are of great significance for achieving the goal of the “two-wheel drive” of the manufacturing and producer services industries, as well as high-quality economic development in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation System Driven by Digital Economy and Its Sustainable Development)

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20 pages, 2180 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Technology and Green Development in Manufacturing: Evidence from China and 20 Other Asian Countries

by Lin Zhu, Xiaoming Li, Yao Huang, Fangyuan Liu, Chengji Yang, Dongyang Li and Hongpeng Bai

Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12841; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712841 - 24 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1190

Abstract

The global interest in environmental protection and sustainable development has grown steadily in recent years, sparking widespread concern about green development in the manufacturing industry among governments, enterprises, and scholars around the world. Despite this heightened interest, research on the influence of the digital economy on the manufacturing industry’s green development remains scarce. This article analyzes the impact of the digital economy on the green development of the manufacturing industry and examines the role of human capital and trade competitiveness in this context. Using a two-way fixed-effects model of panel data analysis, we investigated the GTFP (Green Total Factor Productivity) of the Chinese manufacturing industry, as well as that of the overall industry and 20 other Asian countries along the “Belt and Road”. Our findings indicate a positive association between the digital economy and both the overall GTFP and the manufacturing GTFP in China. The countries situated along the Belt and Road experience a U-shaped trend in their GTFP due to the impact of the digital economy. The digital economy displays a delayed impact, and its eco-friendly value is realized, to different extents, after two sequential periods. In addition, human capital and trade competitiveness are threshold variables in the relationship between the digital economy and the green development of the manufacturing industry. When human capital exceeds a certain threshold and trade competitiveness exceeds a certain threshold, the digital economy has a positive effect on GTFP. This study offers unique insights into the impact of the digital economy on the green development of the manufacturing industry. By addressing this research gap, this study gives policymakers the ability to leverage these findings to promote sustainable practices across the industry. Ultimately, the valuable insights provided by this study may contribute to the ongoing efforts to advance the green development of the manufacturing industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation System Driven by Digital Economy and Its Sustainable Development)

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17 pages, 1497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Science, Technology, and Innovation Official Development Assistance on Innovative Capacity in Developing Countries

by Hyunyi Choi and Keuntae Cho

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 2906; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042906 - 06 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2272

Abstract

This study aims to empirically investigate the effect of Science, Technology, and Innovation Official Development Assistance (STI ODA) on the innovative capacity of developing countries. Particularly, this study attempted to examine the moderating effects of R&D investment and its effect on innovative capacity. To do this, a panel fixed model analysis was carried out with ODA and macroeconomic data on 84 developing countries from 2002 to 2018. The findings indicated that STI ODA was found to have no direct positive effect on innovative capacity. However, it had a positive effect on innovative capacity when the moderating effect of R&D investment was significant and when the proportion of R&D investment increased. The findings of this study serve as a guide for policymakers in terms of having better understanding of the relationship between STI ODA, R&D investment, and innovative capacity. Hence, policy makers and practitioners are able to design a good policy to be adopted such that absorptive capacity should be prioritized for STI ODA to be effective in helping developing countries to escape poverty and achieve sustainable development goals. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to analyze the moderating effect of R&D investment on the relationship between STI ODA and innovative capacity in a developing country context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation System Driven by Digital Economy and Its Sustainable Development)

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26 pages, 1774 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Transformation Drives Sustainable Innovation Capability Improvement in Manufacturing Enterprises: Based on FsQCA and NCA Approaches

by Xiaonan Fan, Ye Wang and Xinyuan Lu

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010542 - 28 Dec 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2994

Abstract

In recent years, digital technologies represented by the Internet, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence have developed rapidly and become a strong driving force for economic development. They have effectively driven manufacturing enterprises to innovate their production methods and management models and enhance their innovation capabilities. The improvement of the sustainable innovation capability of manufacturing enterprises is a complex system, which requires various types of collaborative coupling of digital transformation. Therefore, this paper constructs a comprehensive framework of sustainable innovation capability based on Complex System View, using 20 manufacturing enterprises in Dalian, China, as a sample to analyze the driving effects of digital transformation on the improvement of the sustainable innovation capability of manufacturing enterprises by using a mixture of NCA and QCA methods. The findings are: (1) A single type of digital transformation does not constitute a necessary condition for high sustainable innovation capacity, and the digital transformation of service, model and organization play a more universal role in generating high sustainable innovation capability in manufacturing enterprises; and (2) The combination of three paths can make various types of digital transformations couple and interact to achieve the high sustainable innovation capability of manufacturing enterprises in Liaoning Province, including the Pure Product Digital Transformation Driving Path, Model + Organization Digital Transformation Driving Path, and Comprehensive Digital Transformation Driving Path. In this paper, four conditional configurations are found to lead to non-high sustainable innovation capability, which can be summarized as the Process Digitalization Deficiency Type and Organization Digitalization Limitation Type. The findings of this paper have important theoretical and practical implications for making scientific and reasonable digital transformation decisions to improve the sustainable innovation capability of manufacturing enterprises. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation System Driven by Digital Economy and Its Sustainable Development)

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