Digital economy development and export upgrading: Theoretical analysis based on Chinese experience

Abstract The development of the digital economy in China has not only led to a revolution in science and technology and its industry transformation but also affected China's export upgrading. This article uses the provincial‐level panel data of China's export products from 2012 to 2019 to explore the impact and mechanism of digital economy development on export upgrading. The result shows that the development of the digital economy generally promotes the technical complexity of exports, which is more significant in regions with higher resource allocation efficiency. The mediation effect test finds that the development of the technology market and human capital improvement are the two basic paths of the digital economy to promote export upgrading. The conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests, such as replacing the explanatory variables and using instrumental variables.