Digital Transformation and Industrial Upgrading in Locked-In Specialized Peripheral Regions: Evidence from Longyan, China

Digital transformation is crucial to the sustainable development of industries in locked-in specialized peripheral regions. Taking Longyan in Fujian Province as a case study, this study draws on county-level panel data covering the period 2008–2022 and employs the entropy weight method, kernel density estimation, location quotient analysis, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), and panel-data qualitative comparative analysis (PD-QCA) to identify the constraints and multiple pathways through which digital transformation drives industrial upgrading in peripheral regions. The findings are threefold. First, industrial upgrading in Longyan has continued to advance, while disparities in industrial development across counties and districts have generally tended to converge. Second, industrial upgrading in Longyan has primarily involved the extension of existing industrial foundations into knowledge-intensive fields, including energy conservation and environmental protection, advanced equipment, and new materials. Third, digital infrastructure, digital transformation environment, core enterprises’ digital technology application, digital technology innovation, intra-regional innovation collaboration, and cross-regional innovation collaboration combine to form five pathways to industrial upgrading. The findings demonstrate that digital transformation can enable peripheral regions to achieve knowledge recombination, functional upgrading, and the reconstruction of development paths on the basis of their existing industrial foundations.