CHINA’S DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION AND GREEN TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION: THE TRIPLE MODERATING EFFECT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY

Advancing a new type of infrastructure construction, represented by digital infrastructure, can significantly impact urban green innovation and offer opportunities for transformational growth, while the "industry-academia-research" triad can play a catalytic role in innovation commercialization.Taking the implementation of the "Broadband China" strategy as a quasi-natural experiment and using panel data for 254 cities from 2006 to2022, this paper examines the impact and mechanisms of urban digital construction on green innovation from the perspectives of scientific research, education, and industry.The empirical results show that (1) digital infrastructure construction exerts a significant enabling effect on regional green technology innovation and promotes the coordinated development of green innovation and economic growth, but shows a preference for quantity over quality, which constrains substantive innovation; (2) increased research investment, higher educational human capital, and optimized industrial structure each positively moderate the relationship between digital construction and urban green innovation; (3) heterogeneity analysis reveals that the green technology innovation effect of digital infrastructure construction is significantly stronger in eastern regions, resource-based cities, and cities with stringent environmental regulation.Moreover, mechanism tests indicate that the financial development and public environmental concern are important channels through which digital infrastructure influences urban green innovation.Therefore, while promoting urban digital development, coordinated efforts within the "industry-academia-research" triad should be used to effectively foster green technology innovation.