An Analysis of Frequent Patterns in the World Trade Web

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the structural properties and evolution of the World Trade Web using a weighted network approach, identifying core-periphery structures and motifs, and examining the impact of the 2007 economic crisis.

Contribution

It introduces a weighted network analysis of the World Trade Web, focusing on triadic motifs and structural differences before and after the 2007 crisis.

Findings

Identification of core-periphery structure in trade relationships

Structural differences between major trade players and others

Impact of the 2007 economic crisis on trade network topology

Abstract

This paper employs a weighted network approach to study the empirical properties of the web of trade relationships among world countries, and its evolution over time. We show that most countries are characterized by weak trade links; yet, there exists a group of countries featuring a large number of strong relationships, thus hinting to a core-periphery structure. The World Trade Web (WTW) is characterized by the following representation: a directed graph connecting world Countries with trade relationships, with the aim of finding its topological characterization in terms of motifs and isolating the key factors underlying its evolution. Frequent patterns can identify channels or infrastructures to be strengthened and can help in choosing the most suitable message routing schema or network protocol. In general, frequent patterns have been called {\it motifs} and overrepresented motifs have been recognized to be the low-level building blocks of networks and to be useful to explain many of their properties, playing a relevant role in determining their dynamic and evolution. In this paper triadic motifs are found first partitioning a network by strength of connections and then analyzing the partitions separately. The WTW has been split based on the weights of the graph to highlight structural differences between the big players in terms of volumes of trade and the rest of the world. As test case, the period 2003-2010 has been analyzed, to show the structural effect of the economical crisis in the year 2007.