Comparative Advantage and Centrality in the World Network of Trade and Value Added: An Analysis of the Italian Position

We examine Italy’s market share on exports over time and its relation with countries’ position in the World Trade Network (WTN). By means of network analysis, we assess Italy’s position in overall world trade and in two different sectors of comparative advantage, placing emphasis on the network of trade partners of Italy. We focus on centrality indices, using both Italy’s gross export flows and flows measuring domestic value added. The computed centrality measures help to explain sectoral export performance, and to assess Italian position in the WTN giving evidence on how Italy is increasing its distance from the world markets.