Can economic growth and carbon emissions reduction be owned: evidence from the convergence of digital services and manufacturing in China

Under the background of the deep convergence of China’s digital services and manufacturing, it is of great significance to investigate the effects of the convergence of digital services and manufacturing on economic growth and carbon emissions reduction to the application of digital technology in the whole world. This paper constructs a simultaneous equation model and uses three-stage least squares to estimate the effect and mechanism of industrial convergence on economic growth and carbon emissions. The results show that (i) industrial convergence improves the change of total factor productivity (TFP) and the change of technical efficiency, and the reduction of carbon emissions is the main factor driving the growth of TFP and technical efficiency; (ii) industrial convergence and carbon emissions show a significant U-shaped relationship; (iii) the heterogeneity analysis shows that the convergence of capital-intensive, technology-intensive and labor-intensive manufacturing with digital services will help to improve the growth of TFP, it can inhibit carbon emissions first and then promote it. Therefore, the government should take targeted measures to promote industrial convergence of digital services and manufacturing according to the economic development and industry characteristics, so as to give full play to its positive role in economic growth and emissions reduction.