AbstractThe objectives of this study are to generate an improved digital economy development index (DEDI), to examine the impact of digital economy development on the urban-rural income gap (URIG) from both aggregate and disaggregate perspectives, and to test the mediating effect of industrial structure in this relationship. Data from 30 provincial-level regions in Mainland China are collected from 2013 to 2022. The study employs the entropy method for index construction, system-GMM for dynamic panel estimation, heterogeneity testing to identify regional differences, and the mediating effect test. The findings show, the improved index (DEDI) effectively measures digital economy development across China. The system-GMM results documented a positive and significant first-order coefficient for DEDI, with a negative and significant second-order coefficient. The results of Heterogeneity test indicate significant regional variation in the relationship between DEDI and URIG, and the findings of the t.....