The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulation on high-quality economic development in China: based on the moderating effect of digital finance

Under the new normal of economic growth, implementing environmental regulation policies and developing digital finance have become essential factors affecting high-quality economic development. This study aims to examine whether environmental regulation has a positive effect on high-quality economic development and what impact digital finance has in the process of environmental regulation affecting high-quality economic development. This study uses the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019 to measure the high-quality economic development by using the entropy-TOPSIS method based on constructing an indicator system for high-quality economic development. Then, environmental regulations are classified into four categories: economic, command based, legal, and supervised, and digital finance is included in the analysis framework. The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on high-quality economic development and the indirect influence mechanism played by digital finance are empirically analyzed. The results show that command-based environmental regulation significantly hinders improving economic development quality. In contrast, supervised environmental regulation plays a significant positive role and can therefore serve as an essential driver of high-quality economic development. In addition, digital finance plays a significant positive moderating role in the influence of environmental regulation on the economy’s high-quality development level. After the robustness test, the conclusion is still valid. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development and the moderating effect of digital finance differ across dimensions of economic quality development and have regional heterogeneity. The research findings are conducive to formulating appropriate environmental regulation policies and giving full play to the positive role of digital finance, providing support for promoting high-quality economic development.