Abstract
Against the backdrop of enhancing digital infrastructure to accelerate the development of new quality productivity, this study uses data from 276 prefecture-level cities in China between 2011 and 2020 to construct a static panel model and empirically examine the impact of digital infrastructure on new quality productivity. The baseline regression results indicate that digital infrastructure significantly promotes new quality productivity and remains robust after a series of stability and endogeneity tests. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the strength of the positive effect varies across cities of different sizes, administrative levels, and geographical regions. Further mechanism tests show that digital infrastructure catalyzes new quality productivity by fostering technological innovation, improving factor allocation efficiency, and upgrading industrial structures. In addition, spatial spillover analyses suggest that digital infrastructure exerts a positive spillover effect on new quality productivity in adjacent regions, thereby benefiting regional development. These findings provide theoretical foundations and empirical insights for addressing key bottlenecks in leveraging digital infrastructure to drive the expansion of new quality productivity.