Digital Network Centrality and the Structure of Goods Trade

Gianmarco Ottaviano

No 21276, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper studies how digital infrastructure is associated with the spatial structure of international trade in goods. We embed data availability into a structural gravity framework, conceptualizing it as an information friction that interacts with geographic distance and equilibrium market access. Using the topology of the global subsea cable network, we construct country-level measures of digital network position. We find that countries with greater digital network embeddedness, particularly on the exporter side, exhibit lower distance elasticities of trade. Other dimensions of digital connectivity are more closely associated with multilateral resistance, highlighting distinct channels through which digital infrastructure affects goods trade.

Keywords: International; trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D85 F14 R11 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
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