Digital Economy Empowers Green, Low-Carbon, and High-Quality Development: Effects, Heterogeneity, and Mechanisms——Evidence from Panel Data of 16 Cities in the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration

Under the current pattern of economic development, the digital economy, as a new type of economic format, has risen strongly, injecting strong impetus into the high-quality development of regions. Based on the data related to the green, low-carbon and high-quality development and the digital economy of the 16 cities in the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration from 2012 to 2023, this study explores the impact of the digital economy on green, low-carbon and high-quality development. The results show that:（1）The digital economy plays a promoting role in helping the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration move towards the path of green, low-carbon and high-quality development. The coverage breadth, application depth and digitalization degree of the digital economy can all effectively drive the green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration.（2）The decomposition of the Gini coefficient differences shows that the impact of the digital economy on the green, low-carbon and highquality development of the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration presents significant heterogeneity among different economic circles, and this heterogeneity mainly stems from the structural differences among the economic circles.（3）The test of the mediating effect mechanism shows that the regional technological innovation level plays an indispensable “bridge” role and exerts a significant mediating effect in the dynamic process of the digital economy empowering the green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration.