Digital Economy and Carbon Emissions Reduction: The Mediating Impact of Industrial Structure Transformation

This study investigates the impact of the digital economy on per capita carbon emissions across 30 Chinese provinces from 2013 to 2022, with a specific focus on the mediating role of industrial structure transformation. A composite index of digital economy development is constructed using the entropy weight method and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The Three-Stage Least Squares (3SLS) method is applied to examine both direct and indirect effects. The results show that a 0.119-unit increase in the digital economy index leads to a reduction of approximately 25,900 tons in per capita carbon emissions, representing around 21.8% of the sample mean. Furthermore, the digital economy significantly reduces emissions by promoting the upgrading of industrial structures. These findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms through which digitalization supports low-carbon development and offer important policy implications for achieving carbon reduction targets.