The Digital Economy's Impact on the Coupling Coordination of New Quality Productive Forces

This study investigates the impact of the digital economy on the synergistic development (coupling coordination) of new quality productive forces using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2015 to 2023. Employing the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method to construct a digital economy index and a coupling coordination degree model, it examines the coordination levels. A two-way fixed effects model, incorporating control variables like urbanization and infrastructure, analyzes the underlying mechanisms. Findings indicate that while the coupling coordination of new quality productive forces showed an unstable trend with significant regional disparities from 2015 to 2023, the digital economy exerted a substantial positive influence. Furthermore, this positive impact was found to be stronger in central and western regions than in the more developed eastern coastal areas, offering crucial insights for policymakers.