Comprehensive Evaluation and Spatial Evolution Analysis of High-Quality Development of Digital Economy in Anhui Province Based on Entropy Weight TOPSIS Method

Abstract

Scientific evaluation of digital economy development in Anhui Province is important for identifying regional spatiotemporal evolution and supporting data-driven industrial upgrading. This study constructs a comprehensive evaluation framework based on the entropy weight TOPSIS method and analyzes the high-quality development level and spatial evolution characteristics of the digital economy in 16 prefecture-level cities in Anhui Province from 2015 to 2022. The results show that Anhui’s digital economy maintained an overall upward trend during the observation period, with the average comprehensive development index increasing from 0.214 in 2015 to 0.587 in 2022, representing growth of approximately 1.74 times. However, significant intercity disparities remain, showing a development pattern of “core leadership and multi-polar differentiation.” Spatial autocorrelation analysis indicates a stable positive spatial correlation, accompanied by high-high and low-low clustering, revealing a pronounced spatial polarization effect. Based on the empirical results, this paper proposes strengthening the radiating effect of core growth poles, compensating for regional development deficiencies, and optimizing spatial connection mechanisms.