Green innovation in the manufacturing industry has been widely recognized. Although green innovation can create economic, social, and ecological value, it is also a high-risk activity. We must facilitate and protect the value of green innovation through scientific and systematic management of the risks generated in the process of innovation. The primary task of risk management is risk identification. Therefore, based on the perspective of the global value chain, this paper identifies the risk of green innovation in the manufacturing industry using the research method of grounded theory. By examining the interview records of 25 manufacturing enterprise executives, we summarize and identify the four major risks and 31 risk factors of green innovation. The empirical results of this paper are as follows: (1) the green innovation risks of the manufacturing industry under the global value chain include green R&D risks under the global value chain; manufacturing risks under the global value chain; marketing risks under the global value chain; service risks under the global value chain. (2) Green R&D risks under the global value chain include seven risk factors; green manufacturing risks under the global value chain include 10 risk factors; green marketing risks under the global value chain include nine risk factors; green service risks under the global value chain include five risk factors.

This article employs asymmetric configuration theory and methods to investigate how technological innovation drives regional green growth in China’s complex environment. Specifically, the pooled QCA method is employed to identify multiple driving paths for technological innovation-driven regional green growth. Three configurations for high green growth have been identified: (1) a configuration with high IRD (internal R&D), non-high GS (government support), non-high TM (technology market), and non-high ER (environmental regulation) as core conditions; (2) a configuration with high IRD, non-high NRD (non-R&D) and non-high ER as core conditions complemented by high TM; and (3) a configuration with high levels of IRD, ERD (external R&D) and TM, and non-high ER as core conditions. Furthermore, high IRD is essential for green growth, while strict environmental regulations may be detrimental. This article offers a theoretical basis for adjusting innovation strategies or improving relevant policies to promote green growth in China.

Previous studies have extensively explored industrial innovation, but the impact of downstream buyer market power on upstream industries remains underexamined. Using a spatial Durbin model (SDM) and data from China's medical and pharmaceutical sectors (2001–2021), we analyze how buyer market power affects pharmaceutical industry profitability. Key findings include: (1) local buyer market power reduces local pharmaceutical profitability and may also negatively affect other regions through spatial spillover, though this spillover effect is weak. (2) Stronger regional economic ties amplify the impact of local medical industry power on pharmaceutical profitability. (3) Supplier countervailing power can mitigate the negative effects of buyer power on pharmaceutical profits. (4) Buyer market power significantly harms pharmaceutical profitability in western China and low capital-intensity sectors, but not in eastern or central regions and high capital-intensity sectors. (5) Asset specificity intensifies the negative impact of buyer power, while larger firm size helps reduce it. (6) Buyers can lower pharmaceutical profitability by reducing R&D investment. This study contributes to industrial organization theory by revealing how downstream buyer power affects upstream profitability. It expands empirical methods by incorporating spatial econometrics and offers policy suggestions for improving pharmaceutical industry performance from a vertical chain perspective.

The emergency industry refers to a comprehensive industrial system of products, technologies, and services aimed at preventing, responding to, and mitigating emergencies. The emergency industry is primarily oriented toward disaster prevention and mitigation, providing direct support to enhance societal resilience. Given the frequent occurrence of natural disasters and the strategic layout of global emergency technologies, it is of great practical significance to study how the science and technology systems of disaster-prone countries respond. Based on the theories of disaster economics and innovation geography, this paper constructs a mediation effect model to investigate how China improves the key technological capabilities of its emergency industry through three response pathways—demand stimulation, technological advancement, and educational enhancement—following natural disasters. The stepwise testing approach, which integrates the mediation effect model with the spatial Durbin model, consists of three stages. The first stage tests the total effect model to assess how disasters impact local key technologies and their spatial spillover on adjacent regions. The second stage examines the direct influence of disasters on the three pathways and their spatial spillover using the mediator equation. The third stage uses the outcome equation with the mediator to evaluate how the pathways affect local key technologies and neighboring regions after controlling for disaster impacts. We offer both theoretical insights and empirical evidence to support specialized research on technological diffusion induced by disasters. The result shows that although the direct negative impact of disasters is inevitable, the institutional advantages of China’s emergency rescue and innovative collaborative efforts have played a significant role in promoting key technologies. Under the new national system, China is progressively establishing a spatial framework wherein emergency products are allocated across regions, key technologies are synergistically integrated, and the development of emergency-related disciplines is promoted through regional collaboration in response to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters. This demonstrates that the advancement of key technologies in China’s emergency industry is significantly supported by inter-regional cooperation and linkage mechanisms.