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The World-Trade Web: Topological Properties, Dynamics, and Evolution

Author

Listed:
  • Giorgio Fagiolo
  • Javier Reyes
  • Stefano Schiavo

Abstract

This paper studies the statistical properties of the web of import-export relationships among world countries using a weighted-network approach. We analyze how the distributions of the most important network statistics measuring connectivity, assortativity, clustering and centrality have co-evolved over time. We show that all node-statistic distributions and their correlation structure have remained surprisingly stable in the last 20 years -- and are likely to do so in the future. Conversely, the distribution of (positive) link weights is slowly moving from a log-normal density towards a power law. We also characterize the autoregressive properties of network-statistics dynamics. We find that network-statistics growth rates are well-proxied by fat-tailed densities like the Laplace or the asymmetric exponential-power. Finally, we find that all our results are reasonably robust to a few alternative, economically-meaningful, weighting schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Giorgio Fagiolo & Javier Reyes & Stefano Schiavo, 2008. "The World-Trade Web: Topological Properties, Dynamics, and Evolution," LEM Papers Series 2008/16, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
  • Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2008/16
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Dueñas & Giorgio Fagiolo, 2013. "Modeling the International-Trade Network: a gravity approach," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 8(1), pages 155-178, April.
    2. Giorgio Fagiolo & Tiziano Squartini & Diego Garlaschelli, 2013. "Null models of economic networks: the case of the world trade web," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 8(1), pages 75-107, April.
    3. Massimo Riccaboni & Stefano Schiavo, 2009. "The Structure and Growth of International Trade," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2009-24, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    4. Chinazzi, Matteo & Fagiolo, Giorgio & Reyes, Javier A. & Schiavo, Stefano, 2013. "Post-mortem examination of the international financial network," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1692-1713.
    5. Mario Maggioni & Teodora Uberti, 2011. "Networks and geography in the economics of knowledge flows," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1031-1051, August.
    6. Stefania Vitali & Stefano Battiston, 2014. "The Community Structure of the Global Corporate Network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-13, August.
    7. Giorgio Fagiolo, 2010. "The international-trade network: gravity equations and topological properties," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, June.
    8. Florian Blöchl & Fabian J. Theis & Fernando Vega-Redondo & Eric O'N. Fisher, 2010. "Which Sectors of a Modern Economy are most Central?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3175, CESifo.
    9. Pau Erola & Albert Diaz-Guilera & Sergio Gomez & Alex Arenas, 2012. "Modeling international crisis synchronization in the World Trade Web," Papers 1201.2024, arXiv.org.
    10. Massimo Riccaboni & Alessandro Rossi & Stefano Schiavo, 2013. "Global networks of trade and bits," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 8(1), pages 33-56, April.
    11. Massimo Riccaboni & Stefano Schiavo, 2012. "Stochastic Trade Networks," DEGIT Conference Papers c017_014, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    12. Gogas, Periklis & Papadimitriou, Theophilos & Matthaiou, Maria-Artemis, 2016. "Bank supervision using the Threshold-Minimum Dominating Set," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 451(C), pages 23-35.
    13. Bouët, Antoine & Cosnard, Lionel & Laborde, David, 2017. "Measuring Trade Integration in Africa," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 32(4), pages 937-977.
    14. Stefania Vitali & James B Glattfelder & Stefano Battiston, 2011. "The Network of Global Corporate Control," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-6, October.
    15. Massimo Riccaboni & Stefano Schiavo, 2009. "The Structure and Growth of Weighted Networks," Papers 0908.0348, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2009.
    16. Angela Abbate & Luca De Benedictis & Giorgio Fagiolo & Lucia Tajoli, 2012. "The International Trade Network in Space and Time," LEM Papers Series 2012/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    17. Shamnaaz B. Sufrauj, 2012. "The implications of the elimination of the multi-fibre arrangement for small remote island economies: A network analysis," Department of Economics Working Papers 1201, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    18. , David, 2016. "The formation of networks with local spillovers and limited observability," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(3), September.
    19. Paul Ormerod & Amy Heineike, 2009. "Global recessions as a cascade phenomenon with interacting agents," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 4(1), pages 15-26, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Weighted Networks; World Trade Web; Distribution Dynamics; Power Laws; Econophysics;
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