The Impact of Digital Infrastructure on Consumption in the Chinese Path to Modernization

Purpose: This study develops a correlation measurement system between digital infrastructure and the Chinese path to modernization consumption, investigating the mechanisms by which digital infrastructure drives consumption patterns and their spatiotemporal evolution. Grounded in a tripartite framework of "digital infrastructure-consumption upgrading-regional disparities," we develop a comprehensive indicator system to identify heterogeneity in consumption space and structural characteristics. This enables the proposal of targeted policy pathways to optimize the layout of digital infrastructure and foster consumption upgrading. Materials and Methods: Employing the entropy method, we measure the digital infrastructure and consumption levels across 31 provinces (2012-2022), establishing a comprehensive index. We analyze underlying mechanisms through theoretical modeling and rigorously evaluate causal effects using benchmark regression, robustness tests, and endogeneity exploration, thereby ensuring comparable and reliable findings. Findings: Digital infrastructure levels remain lower in central and western regions but exhibit rapid growth, signaling a catching-up trend. Conversely, the eastern region boasts high levels yet experiences slowing growth, with regional disparities becoming more pronounced. Consumption peaks in the east, spurring growth, followed by the central region; the western and northeastern regions lag. The upgrading of consumption structures exhibits significant regional asynchrony. Crucially, digital infrastructure demonstrably accelerates the Chinese path to modernization, revealing that the penetration of digital technology catalyzes consumption upgrading by reducing transaction costs, expanding consumption scenarios, and enhancing consumption quality. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Theoretically, this research enriches "infrastructure-consumption" interaction theory through a "technology-economy-society" integrative lens, offering fresh perspectives for cross-disciplinary inquiry. Policy-wise, it advocates promoting "infrastructure & scenarios" integration, accelerating technology diffusion in the east, and implementing regionally differentiated consumption promotion policies to cultivate unique growth poles. In practice, it provides actionable data to inform governmental regulation of the digital economy and the formulation of optimal consumption strategies, thereby bridging the "digital divide" and mitigating "consumption differentiation."