Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/89414 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
LEM Working Paper Series No. 2012/17
Publisher: 
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Pisa
Abstract: 
This paper studies how the structure of the International Trade Network (ITN) changes in geographical space and along time. We employ geographical distance between countries in the world to filter the links in the ITN, building a sequence of sub-networks, each one featuring trade links occurring at similar distance. We then test if the topological properties of ITN subnetworks change as distance increases. We find that distance strongly impacts, in non-linear ways, the topology of the ITN. We show that the ITN is disassortative at long distances while it is assortative at short ones. Similarly, the main determinant of the overall high ITN clustering level are triangular trade triples between geographically close countries. This means that trade partnership choices are differentiated over different distance ranges. Such evidence robustly arises over time and after one controls for the economic size and income of trading partners.
Subjects: 
International Trade
Network Analysis
Distance
JEL: 
C02
F10
F14
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
552.37 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.