Is there reciprocity between India and RCEP member countries' goods trade?

Abstract

In early November 2019, India announced its withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, and stated that there is a non-reciprocal trade relationship with RCEP member states, this incident has aroused extensive discussions between India and the international community. We take reciprocity as the perspective and discuss the following three theoretical propositions: (1) Can the reciprocity coefficient be used as a basis for decision-making? (2) What is the influence mechanism of the reciprocity coefficient? (3) How will the reciprocity of RCEP changes in the future? We find that the reciprocity index is a result indicator of trade policy and trade network status. It is affected by the trade policy and trade status of related countries in the short term. It can be regarded as a warning and decision-making reference directional indicator. However, it cannot be used as a basic index for trade policy adjustments, India should reconsider this decision or choose other ways to participate in RCEP's regional cooperation.

Keywords:

• India
• RCEP
• social networks
• reciprocity
• cooperation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Changping Zhao

Dr. Changping Zhao graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University with a PhD in management. He has trained more than 50 postgraduate students. He is currently a professor at the Business School of Changshu University of Technology. His research interests include social network analysis, international trade.

Xinli Qi

Miss Xinli Qi is currently pursuing her master's degree in International Business from the School of Shipping Economics and Management, Dalian Maritime University. Her research interests include social network analysis, RCEP, international trade.

Yu Gong

Dr. Yu Gong obtained his PhD at the University of Exeter, he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southampton, Director CORMSIS Business Liaison (China) at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, UK. His research interests are sustainable supply chain management and supply chain innovation.

Xiaoling Feng

Dr. Xiaoling Feng, PhD in economics, is a Professor and doctoral supervisor of Shipping Economics and Management School, Dalian Maritime University. Her research interests include RCEP, international trade.

Xuping Cao

Dr. Xuping Cao, obtained his PhD in Economics from Nanjing Forestry University, and is a Professor and Deputy Dean of the Business School of Changshu Institute of Technology. His research interests include regional economy and international trade.

Yun Zhang

Dr. Yun Zhang, obtained his PhD in Management at Wuhan University of Technology. He is Head of Strategy and IT Transformation at China Triumph International Engineering.