A Social Network Analysis of International Creative Goods Flow

Abstract

This study used social network analysis to examine the structure of the international trade of creative goods. The results showed that the US, Canada, Europe, and certain Asian countries (e.g., China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Thailand) ranked high in terms of out-degree/in-degree, eigenvector, and betweenness centrality compared to other countries in the international creative goods trade network. A quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) revealed interrelations between each creative goods networks. In particular, the new media network strongly interacted with the design and art crafts network. Furthermore, multiple regression confirmed that each country’s gross domestic product (GDP), gross national income (GNI) per capita, population, inbound tourism expenditure, and gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) influenced their international trade of creative goods.