Decomposing Intra-industry and Net One-way Trade of East Asian Food Market

Abstract

Previous studies use numerous measures to examine regional trade structures and describe comparative advantages or interdependence between regions. Recently, however, studies adopting social network analysis to trade have become a growing concern. This study analyzes structural changes in intra-regional trade of food market in East Asia by decomposing trade networks and creating consistency between reciprocity as measured by Squartini et al. (2013) and the Grubel-Lloyd index of intra-industry trade. We confirm East Asia's intra-industry trade in foods has deepened, however, its position in overall trade remains small in a comparison with each country's centrality in reciprocated and non-reciprocated networks.