Towards sustainable development: Unveiling the impact of digital government on urban low-carbon development from a resource curse perspective

In the pursuit of sustainable development, this study explores the influence of digital government on urban low-carbon development within the context of the resource curse. Leveraging a staggered difference-in-difference model and panel data covering 288 prefecture-level cities from the years 2000–2020, we analyze smart city construction's impact on low-carbon development. The results indicate that the digital government has an optimal effect on low-carbon development in smart city areas; the impact of the digital government on low-carbon development is more significant in the well-developed eastern regions. Moreover, the low-carbon development effect of digital government shows incremental effects. Finally, the impacts of scientific and technological innovation, rationalization of industrial structure, and upgrading of industrial structure can positively moderate the effect of digital government on low-carbon development. Overall, this research contributes to studying factors that influence low-carbon development and facilitates the realization of low-carbon development in cities with the digital government as a starting point. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd