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The digital transformation of China’s economy, characterized by the widespread adoption of electronic payments and rapid e-commerce expansion, has reshaped the mechanisms through which technological innovation drives economic development. While previous studies have explored the individual effects of digital finance and innovation, a critical gap persists in understanding their interactive influence on macroeconomic outcomes within China’s unique institutional framework. This study employs a balanced panel dataset comprising 30 Chinese provinces from 2013 to 2023 and applies a fixed effects models with robust standard errors to examine the individual and interactive effects of electronic payment, e-commerce, and technological innovation (measured by R&D investment) on economic growth (measured by GDP). The empirical results indicate that both electronic payment and e-commerce have significantly positive effects on economic growth, with e-commerce demonstrating a slightly greater magnitude of effect. Technological innovation also contributes positively; however, its interaction with electronic payment yields a negative and statistically significant coefficient, suggesting diminishing marginal returns or potential inefficiencies when these dimensions are not strategically aligned. Robustness checks validate the consistency of these findings across alternative specifications. This study offers a novel empirical contribution by uncovering the complex that interplay between digital financial infrastructure and technological innovation in shaping regional economic growth, providing both theoretical insights and practical guidance for the coordinated formulation of digital and innovation policies.
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