Didier Lebert & Hafida El Younsi 
International Specialization Dynamics 

This book deals with the dynamics of international specializations during the present period of trade globalization. It discusses international trade as a network linking countries, and uses structural techniques to analyze the evolving structure of this network. It offers a new approach to address the economic emergence of countries. Using these structural methods, the book also explains knowledge exchange. Indeed, the structure transformation of the international trade is partly due to an exchange of competencies between regions. Many concrete examples are proposed.

Table of Content

Introduction ix

Chapter 1. Overview of the Globalization of Trade in Industrial Goods: 1980-2004 1

1.1. Introduction 1

1.2. Data 1

1.3. Structural indicators resulting from social networks analysis 2

1.4. Main results 9

1.4.1. Density of graphs 9

1.4.2. Node degrees 10

1.4.3. Node strengths 12

1.4.4. Node centralities 18

1.4.5. Assortments 22

1.4.6. Clustering 24

1.5. Conclusion 30

Chapter 2. The Dynamics of International Industrial Specializations 33

2.1. Introduction 33

2.2. Influence matrix and country centrality indicators 34

2.3. The dynamics of revealed comparative advantages 45

2.4. Conclusion 53

Chapter 3. Dominance Relationships in an Influence Graph 55

3.1. Introduction 55

3.2. Spanning trees with a single impulse node (STSIN) 61

3.3. Arc-impelled dominances 68

3.4. The value of a dominance impelled by an arc between nodes that belong to two different substructures 76

3.5. Conclusion 83

Chapter 4. Economic Dominance Theory and Structural Indicators on Egocentric Networks 85

4.1. Introduction 85

4.2. Egocentric networks: sectorization, inclusion, insertion and integration 86

4.3. Application to African countries’ international trade 94

4.4. Conclusion 101

Chapter 5. Economic Dominance Theory and Intra- and Inter-Regional Flow of Technological Knowledge 103

5.1. Introduction 103

5.2. Measuring the dynamic resilience of regions 107

5.3. Measuring the significance and forms of the technological autonomy of regions 113

5.4. Conclusion 119

Chapter 6. Technological Landscapes Analysis: Europe, 2010-2012 121

6.1. Introduction 121

6.2. Four technological landscapes 123

6.3. Some findings 134

6.3.1. The betweenness centrality of regions and technologies 134

6.3.2. The betweenness centrality of companies in regional and technology landscapes 138

6.3.3. The contribution of companies to the centrality of regions and technologies 143

6.3.4. A brief view of the Île-de-France region 146

6.4. Conclusion 148

Conclusion 151

Appendix 155

Bibliography 163

Index 171

About the author

Didier LEBERT, Deputy Director, Applied Economics Unit, ENSTA Paris Tech, France.

Hafida EL YOUNSI, Researcher, Applied Economics Unit, ENSTA Paris Tech, France.