PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2019, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (10): 1607-1620.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2019.10.015

• Special Issue | Empirical Study • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Structure and change of international trade network of intermediate goods: From the perspective of trade costs

MA Jiahui1,2,HE Canfei1,2,*()   

  1. 1. School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    2. Peking University-Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2019-06-05 Revised:2019-09-11 Online:2019-10-28 Published:2019-11-01
  • Contact: HE Canfei E-mail:hecanfei@urban.pku.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 41731278);National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars(No. 41425001)

Abstract:

With the expansion and continuous deepening of globalization, more countries are involved in the trend. In the meantime, the segregation of production has entered the stage of intra-product specialization. Trade of intermediate goods, as an embodiment of intra-product specialization, is taking up a growing proportion of global trade. In this study, we examined the structure and change of the intermediate goods trade network of textile industry, automobile industry, and electronic industry as typical examples of labor-intensive industry, traditional globalized industry, and tech-intensive industry, respectively. Then, we took China's exportation network as an example and looked into the factors that influenced its change. The results are as follows: 1) Structures of the three networks of difference industries show great heterogeneity—the network of electronics is more condensed, while the other two are looser. 2) During 1998-2017, China had been playing an increasingly more significant role in the global intermediate goods trade network. 3) Geographic distance significantly influences trade preference, yet only in the textile industry does the distance attenuation effect stand; Lower communication cost significantly increases trade preference and promotion of Chinese culture also increases trade preference; Institution of destination countries significantly influences trade preference—stronger voice and accountability of the state increases trade preference, while higher institutional quality repulses trade preference. Labor cost also affects trade preference significantly.

Key words: intermediate goods, trade network, cost of trade