Information Consumption Policy and Carbon Unlocking: Evidence from China’s Information Consumption Pilot Policy

Carbon unlocking is essential for achieving low-carbon transition and promoting systemic change in the economy and society. However, existing studies have paid limited attention to how the information consumption pilot policy affects carbon unlocking. Using China’s information consumption pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences approach with city-level panel data from 2010 to 2023 to examine the effect of the information consumption pilot policy on carbon unlocking. The results show that the positive impact of the ICP policy on carbon unlocking is more significant in institutional, technological, and social unlocking. The mediating results indicate that digital industry agglomeration and digital−real integration are two potential mediating mechanisms through which the policy may exert its effects. Moderating effect analysis shows that talent introduction attention strengthens the positive effect of the policy. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the promoting effect of the ICP policy on carbon unlocking is mainly found in non-resource-based cities, large cities, and cities with net population inflows. These findings provide new evidence on how digitalization can support the low-carbon transition.