The impact of digital economy on green development of agriculture and its spatial spillover effect

Purpose By discussing the spatial spillover effect and regional heterogeneity of digital economy and green agricultural development level, this paper aims to provide countermeasures and suggestions for the better development of green agriculture in the contemporary era when digital economy is universally developed and at the same time provide development suggestions suitable for green agriculture's development characteristics and initial conditions for different regions. Design/methodology/approach This paper discusses the theoretical foundation of the digital economy and green agriculture development and utilizes panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2018. By employing the Super-Efficiency Slack-based Measure and Malmquist-Luenberger (SBM-ML) model based on unexpected output to measure the total factor productivity of green agriculture and employing the spatial panel Durbin model to empirically test the spatiotemporal effects of the digital economy on green agriculture development from both temporal and spatial dimensions. Finally, the model is tested for robustness as well as heterogeneity. Findings The research findings are as follows: First, from the perspective of time effect, digital economy has a continuous driving effect on the development of green agriculture and with the passage of time, this effect becomes more and more prominent; second, from the perspective of spatial effect, digital economy has a significant positive impact on the development of local green agriculture, while digital economy has a significant negative impact on the development of surrounding green agriculture. Finally, the impact of digital economy on the development of green agriculture shows significant differences in different dimensions and regions. Originality/value As an important driver of economic growth, the digital economy has injected new impetus into agricultural and rural development. Along with the intensifying environmental pollution problems, how to influence the green development of agriculture through the digital economy is a proposition worthy of attention nowadays. This paper analyzes the relationship between the digital economy and agricultural green development in multiple dimensions by exploring the temporal and spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on agricultural green development, as well as the heterogeneity in different dimensions and in different regions and derives policy insights accordingly in order to improve relevant policies.