The Effects and Contextual Differences of Digital Technology Embeddedness on Local Public Environmental Governance Capacity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmsd.202612209

Author(s)

Bochun Shen

Affiliation(s)

Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy and Science, Beijing, China

Abstract

How digital technology is embedded within public organizations and enhances environmental governance capacity is a core issue in the field of public management in the digital era. Existing studies largely treat digitalization as an overall exogenous variable, lacking in-depth examination of the technological embedding process and contextual conditions. Drawing on technology embedding theory, this paper develops a three-dimensional analytical framework of “instrumental embedding—power embedding—capacity embedding” and introduces the TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework as a contextual analytical tool. Using a sample of 104 key environmental protection cities in China from 2012 to 2022, this study empirically examines the effects and contextual variations of digital technology embedding on local public environmental governance capacity. The findings reveal that both the overall level of digital technology embedding and its three sub-dimensions have a significant positive impact on environmental governance capacity, albeit through distinct pathways: instrumental embedding improves monitoring accuracy and enforcement efficiency; power embedding restructures bureaucratic power structures through unified platforms; and capacity embedding activates multi-actor co-governance via data transparency. Technological infrastructure and fiscal capacity positively moderate the embedding effectiveness, while inter-jurisdictional competition pressure exhibits an inverted U-shaped moderating effect. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that digital technology embedding yields stronger marginal improvement effects on the southeast side of the Hu Huanyong Line, in resource-based cities, and in prefecture-level cities. This study provides a theoretical extension of the embeddedness perspective for understanding governance transformation in the digital era and offers empirical evidence for context-specific digital environmental governance.

Keywords

Technology Embeddedness; Digital Governance; Environmental Governance

References

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