Does Platform Economic Development Affect Environmental Inequality? Empirical Evidence from China

Mitigating environmental inequality (EIN) makes great contributions to narrowing the differences in environmental quality between regions, further achieving sustainable development. Prior studies have mostly concentrated on how environmental regulations, technological innovation, as well as financial constraints affect EIN, without paying attention to the role of platform economic development (PDE) in EIN. This research tests the effect of PED on EIN empirically using 2013–2019 panel data collected from 30 Chinese provinces. The results show that (1) PDE significantly reduces EIN, and this finding holds up when endogeneity and robustness tests are conducted. (2) Mechanism test reveals that PDE significantly alleviates regional EIN primarily through three channels: mitigating green technological innovation inequality, promoting regional market integration, and enhancing public environmental concern. (3) The effect of PDE on alleviating EI has regional heterogeneity. In regions with large digital divide, strict environmental regulation, strong government environmental preference, and high government governance ability, PDE has a more pronounced effect on EIN. These results contribute significantly to knowledge regarding PDE and EIN, as well as offering recommendations for attaining environmental equality.