Research on the Coupling Effect Measurement and Symbiotic Path of the Green Development of Traditional Manufacturing Industry Empowering by Digital Economy in Yangtze River Delta

Purpose/Significance As China’s economy and society enter the era of digital economy, the traditional manufacturing industry, which is the pillar of national economy, is facing two challenges of industrial upgrading and low carbon transformation. Digital transformation is the best way to cope with the heavy challenges. Design/Methodology This paper constructs a coupled development evaluation model based on the social shaping of technology from three dimensions: the basic support power of traditional manufacturing industry, the guarantee power of digital industry development, and the ecological resource bearing power of green industry. Based on symbiosis theory, the symbiotic agglomeration index of industries is constructed and the entropy theory is applied to measure the coupling degree and symbiotic agglomeration effect of traditional manufacturing industry, digital industry and green industry in Yangtze River Delta region from 2013 to 2019. Conclusions/Findings The empirical analysis finds that the current IT technology innovation capacity and industrial layout structure have a greater impact on the coupling of traditional manufacturing industries and green industries in the Yangtze River Delta region. Therefore, the traditional manufacturing industries in the Yangtze River Delta region need to build an innovation ecosystem, increase investment in low-carbon technologies research and development, improve the energy consumption structure, and use digital technology to transform the high energy consumption production methods of traditional manufacturing industries to achieve the dual transformation of “low-carbon development and industrial upgrading”.