Distance-Varying Assortativity And Clustering Of The International Trade Network, Angela Abbate, Luca De Benedictis, Giorgio Fagiolo, Lucia Tajoli
May 2018
Distance-Varying Assortativity And Clustering Of The International Trade Network, Angela Abbate, Luca De Benedictis, Giorgio Fagiolo, Lucia Tajoli
Luca De Benedictis
In this paper we study how the topology 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 assortativity
and clustering of ITN subnetworks changes as distance increases, and we nd that this is indeed the case: distance strongly impacts, in a non-linear way, the topology of the ITN.We show that the ITN is disassortative at long distances while it is assortative …
Implementing Propensity Score Matching With Network Data: The Effect Of Gatt On Bilateral Trade, Luca De Benedictis, Bruno Arpino, Alessandra Mattei
Mar 2017
Implementing Propensity Score Matching With Network Data: The Effect Of Gatt On Bilateral Trade, Luca De Benedictis, Bruno Arpino, Alessandra Mattei
Luca De Benedictis
Motivated by the evaluation of the causal effect of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on bilateral international trade flows, we investigate the role of network structure in propensity score matching under the assumption of strong ignorability. We study the sensitivity of causal inference with respect to the presence of characteristics of the network in the set of confounders conditional on which strong ignorability is assumed to hold. We find that estimates of the average causal effect are highly sensitive to the presence of node-level network statistics in the set of confounders. Therefore, we argue that estimates may suffer …
Network Analysis Of World Trade Using The Baci-Cepii Dataset, Luca De Benedictis, Silvia Nenci, Gianluca Santoni, Lucia Tajoli, Claudio Vicarelli
Aug 2014
Network Analysis Of World Trade Using The Baci-Cepii Dataset, Luca De Benedictis, Silvia Nenci, Gianluca Santoni, Lucia Tajoli, Claudio Vicarelli
Luca De Benedictis
In this paper we explore the BACI-CEPII database using Network Analysis. Starting from the visualization of the World Trade Network, we then define and describe the topology of the network, both in its binary version and in its weighted version, calculating and discussing some of the commonly used network’s statistics. We finally discuss some specific topic that can be studied using Network Analysis and International Trade data, both at the aggregated and sectoral level. The analysis is done using multiple software (Stata, R, and Pajek). The scripts to replicate part of the analysis are included in the appendix, and can …
The Cobden-Chevalier Effect: Evaluating The Causal Effect Of The Most Favoured Nation Clause In Presence Of Network Interdependence, Luca De Benedictis, Silvia Nenci
Dec 2013
The Cobden-Chevalier Effect: Evaluating The Causal Effect Of The Most Favoured Nation Clause In Presence Of Network Interdependence, Luca De Benedictis, Silvia Nenci
Luca De Benedictis
The purpose of this work is to evaluate the causal effect of the Network of the Cobden-Chevalier Treaties including the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause on trade flows of countries in the second half of the 19th century. This paper contributes to the literature on the topic in several ways. First, it applies up-to-date quantitative methods (i.e., nonparametric matching technique) to the study of historical phenomena. These methods permit to estimate the average MFN effect (the ``treatment") on the treated group of countries in terms of bilateral trade flows (the ``outcome"), rebalancing the control group without imposing any functional relationship …
Africa In The World Trade Network, Luca De Benedictis
Aug 2010
Africa In The World Trade Network, Luca De Benedictis
Luca De Benedictis
This paper contributes to the analysis of the effect of the global financial crisis (Claessens et al., 2010) on African coutries (IMF, 2009) inspecting the effect of the crises on bilateral trade flows. The empirical analysis makes intensive use of network analysis techniques, describing the international trade of SSA countries as part of the world trade network. The paper analyzes the change in the topology of the trade network during the crisis. Single SSA countries participation to the network is reported in terms of link strength and centrality, showing if some specific countries were more radically disconnected from the giant …