Exploring the Impact of Cross‐Border Renewable Energy Investment on Green Innovation: A Network Analysis Integrating Global Value Chains

ABSTRACT In the context of the energy transition, crossborder investment has emerged as a significant catalyst for the advancement of renewable energy sources. As cross‐border renewable energy investments continue to establish a more intricate global network, a country's performance in green innovation is influenced by two key factors: external investment linkages and its position within global value chains (GVCs). This study draws on network and GVC theories to map the structure of the global cross‐border renewable energy investment network and empirically test how countries' network positions and GVC segments relate to their green innovation performance. The analysis is based on a panel of 6983 investment projects from 2003 to 2023. The findings indicate that global cross‐border renewable energy investments exhibit a cohesive network with a pronounced core‐periphery structure, which varies significantly across GVC segments and reflects the uneven distribution of countries' positions within the network. Countries occupying different positions in the global network experience diverse effects of cross‐border renewable energy investment on green innovation. It has been demonstrated that those with greater node strength and richer structural holes generally achieve higher levels of green innovation output. However, these network advantages are not uniformly distributed across GVC segments. This study offers conceptual insights that contribute to the development of effective policies for cross‐border renewable energy investment and green innovation.