The Network Structure Characteristics and Determinants of the Belt & Road Industrial Robot Trade

ABSTRACT

This study applies the social network analysis method and quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) model to explore the network structure characteristics and determinants of the Belt & Road industrial robot trade from 2001 to 2018. The results show that the Belt & Road industrial robot trade relationship shows a feature of “steady growth”, and the accessibility and trade efficiency of the intraregional trade are constantly improved. The Belt & Road industrial robot trade network has an obvious core-periphery structure. A few countries such as China, Turkey, and India occupy the core position, and more than half of the countries are weak semiperipheral countries and peripheral countries. The technical distance of industrial robots is the main factor that affects the development of the Belt & Road industrial robot trade network. Besides, a larger technical distance, a larger development distance of the manufacturing industry, a larger economic distance, a closer geographic distance and having a common language and culture are the factors that can promote the industrial robot trade. Moreover, policy recommendations are proposed according to the results.

KEYWORDS:

• Trade networks
• industrial robots
• social network analysis
• the Belt & Road Initiative
• QAP model

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71704069, 71771041, 71802099]; Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province [YQ2020G003]; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2018M642189].