Research on the Mechanism and Path of Balanced Regional Economic Development Driven by the Integration of Data Factors and Artificial Intelligence

This study focuses on the core issue of balanced regional economic development driven by the integration of data factors and artificial intelligence (DIAI). Aiming at the deficiency of existing studies that ignore the synergistic effects of the two elements, the study uses panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2023 to construct fixed effects, mediation effect and threshold regression models. Combined with robustness tests, it systematically examines the action mechanism, boundary conditions and regional heterogeneity of DIAI. It is empirically verified that DIAI significantly narrows regional development gaps and acts as a novel synergistic driving force for balanced regional economic development. DIAI exerts its driving effect through three mechanisms, namely innovation-driven development, the upgrading of industrial structure and the optimization of resource allocation, with the contribution rates of the three mechanisms being 42.1%, 28.6% and 29.3% respectively. A single threshold effect of 12.7% is identified in the level of financial development; the marginal contribution of DIAI increases by 3.9 times after the financial development level crosses this threshold. In addition, the effect of DIAI is more pronounced in western China and national digital economy pilot zones. Theoretically, this study expands the theory of regional innovation systems. Practically, it provides a basis for local governments to formulate differentiated DIAI strategies. The study also points out its limitation in the insufficient exploration of the mechanism of microeconomic agents and clarifies the future research direction of further in-depth investigation from the micro perspective.