Digital Technology Development and the Sustainable Development of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Evidence from Provincial Panel Data in China, 2012–2022

Drawing on a panel of 30 Chinese provinces for 2012–2022, this study examines the association between digital technology development and the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Composite indices are constructed using the entropy weight method. The ICH index serves as a proxy for the provincial enabling conditions that support ICH sustainability. The baseline two-way fixed-effects coefficient is 0.2572 (province-clustered p = 0.085). With only 30 clusters, evidence of baseline significance weakens under small-cluster inference: the wild cluster bootstrap p-value is 0.130. The coefficient remains positive across alternative specifications, including winsorization, use of an alternative digital indicator, a one-year lag, exclusion of the four municipalities, and exclusion of the 2020 pandemic year. The lagged specification has a bootstrap p-value of 0.068. Two Bartik-type instruments produce positive estimates, but their exclusion restriction cannot be verified; the IV results are therefore treated as supplementary evidence. Descriptively, digital technology development is highest in eastern China, with central and western provinces catching up, while the ICH index is highest in the central region. The evidence therefore indicates a consistently positive but imprecisely estimated association and should be read as suggestive rather than causal. Policy directions concern digital infrastructure, digital public cultural services, and support adapted to regional conditions.