Spatial spillover effects of China's digital economy on urban energy carbon emission efficiency from a network perspective.

In response to the dual challenges of global climate change and China's "dual carbon" goals, the digital economy has become increasingly vital in enhancing urban energy-related carbon emission efficiency. However, traditional studies have not fully considered its interregional network linkages and the resulting spatial spillover effects. To address this gap, this study employs panel data from 271 prefecture-level cities in China between 2011 and 2022 to construct a spatial correlation network of the digital economy. By integrating a modified gravity model, social network analysis, and spatial econometric techniques, we systematically examine the mechanisms, spatial heterogeneity, and spillover effects of this network on urban energy carbon emission efficiency. The findings reveal four main insights: (1) The spatial correlation network of China's urban digital economy demonstrates a complex and multi-threaded structure, with core cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen dominating digital resource flows. Although overall carbon emission efficiency has improved, disparities across cities have widened. (2) An increase in network centrality significantly enhances energy carbon emission efficiency, with more pronounced positive externalities in the eastern region and in megacities. (3) Network centrality exerts significant spatial spillover effects on efficiency, exhibiting a boundary effect: the spillover coefficient peaks at 170 km and decays with greater distance. (4) Urban innovation capacity serves as a key transmission channel in improving efficiency, whereas industrial upgrading currently imposes certain constraints, as the expansion of energy-intensive industries may inhibit short-term efficiency gains. These results provide practical implications for fostering spatially coordinated carbon reduction and improving urban energy carbon emission efficiency in China.