The impact of digital economy on regional technological innovation capability: An analysis based on China’s provincial panel data

The development of the digital economy in China facilitates the transformation of old and new growth drivers. It can greatly promote the upgrading of technological innovation capacity, realize economies of scale and scope, and constantly promote the generation of new industries and new forms of business with the deep integration of digital economy and traditional industries, thereby promoting the high-quality development of China’s economy. This paper uses inter-provincial panel data from 2013 to 2020 and a dynamic spatial Durbin model to quantify the impact of the digital economy on regional technological innovation capability (RTIC). The results show that: (1) the digital economy has positive spatial spillover effect and can boost the province’s and neighboring provinces’ regional technological innovation capability; (2) regional technological innovation capability has obvious spatial and temporal aggregation effects; (3) the impact of the digital economy on RTIC is mainly short-term effects, and there is regional heterogeneity, with the western region experiencing the highest effects and the eastern region experiencing less. Therefore, it is urgent to accelerate the development speed of the digital economy, grasp the law of dynamic economic development, identify the regional heterogeneity of the digital economy development, and deepen inter-regional digital technology cooperation to comprehensively drive the improvement of regional technological innovation capability.