The Impact of the "Broadband China" Strategy on China's Digital-Real Integration: An Empirical Analysis Based on Double Machine Learning

Digital technology-driven transformations in global production methods and consumption patterns are profoundly reshaping the world economic landscape, with digital-real integration (DRI) having become a critical pathway for promoting high-quality economic development in the new development stage. Using panel data from 335 Chinese prefecture-level cities spanning 2000-2023 as the research sample, this study comprehensively employs factor analysis, the coupling coordination degree model, and double machine learning methods to systematically examine the impact effects and mechanisms of the "Broadband China" strategy (BCS) on DRI. The empirical results demonstrate that BCS has a significant positive on DRI. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy effects are more pronounced in resource-based cities, old industrial base cities, highly developed cities, and integration-advantaged cities. Mechanism testing indicates that BCS primarily promotes digital-real integration through four pathways: improving capital misallocation, alleviating labor misallocation, industrial structure upgrading, and adjusting government expenditure.