2011/09 | LEM Working Paper Series | |
Rewiring World Trade. Part II: A Weighted Network Analysis |
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Tiziano Squartini, Giorgio Fagiolo, Diego Garlaschelli |
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Abstract | ||
In this sequel to a companion paper, we complement our analysis of the
binary projections of the International Trade Network (ITN) by
considering its weighted representations. We show that, unlike the
binary case, all possible weighted representations of the ITN
(directed/undirected, aggregated/ disaggregated) cannot be traced back
to local structural properties, which are therefore of limited
informativeness. Our results highlight that any topological property
representing only partial information (e.g., degree sequences) cannot
in general be obtained from the corresponding weighted property (e.g.,
strength sequences). Therefore the expectation that weighted
structural properties oer a more complete description than purely
topological ones is misleading. Our analysis of the ITN detects
indirect eects that are not captured by traditional macroeconomic
analyses focused only on weighted rst-order country-specic properties,
and highlights the limitations of models and theories that
overemphasize the need to reproduce and explain such properties.
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