Study on the Impact of Virtual Agglomeration on the High-Quality Development of the New Energy Vehicle Industry

With the deepening development of the digital economy, new forms of industrial organization represented by virtual agglomeration are reshaping the logic of industry development. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impact of virtual agglomeration on the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry and its underlying mechanisms. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces covering the period 2018–2023, this study constructs two-way fixed-effects models, mediation models, moderation models, and threshold regression models. Employing econometric methods, it analyzes the direct impact of virtual agglomeration on the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry, as well as its mediation mechanisms, moderating effects, and nonlinear characteristics. Research findings reveal: (1) Virtual agglomeration promotes the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry, but its effects exhibit spatiotemporal heterogeneity. (2) Virtual agglomeration indirectly drives industrial development by enhancing technology market activity and promoting collaborative innovation. (3) The impact of virtual agglomeration exhibits a nonlinear pattern of increasing marginal returns and is positively regulated by the regional innovation environment. This paper expands the research perspective on virtual agglomeration and high-quality industrial development from both theoretical and empirical dimensions, providing policy recommendations for achieving high-quality development in the new energy vehicle industry during the digital economy era.