The Evolutionary Dimensions of Global Investment Networks

Abstract

Globalization has amplified human activities beyond national borders on economic, social, political, or technological grounds, leading to closer integration of countries around the world through connections and flows of goods, information, capital, and people (Goldin and Reinert, 2007). In this scenario, a new economic system has emerged that is increasingly built on interdependencies implemented through complex investment linkages, trade dealings, or supply chains (Schweitzer et al., 2009). This development has generated opinions about a "borderless" world where places are considered territorial units involved in external orientations and multi-scalar relations (Amin, 2002). Dicken et al. (2001) even argued that in this complex and interdependent economic system, networks have grown into a foundational unit of analysis through which the global economy is better understandable, rather than through firms and places. Although there is considerable literature on various global networks that focuses on understanding

Features of Geo-Economic Network between China and Countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

“…At the national level, geo-economic linkages manifest as a great power agglomeration effect and the geographic proximity effect [10], and geo-economic cooperation and competition are always the main forms of geo-economic relations [16]. The world energy trade network continues to expand and gradually evolves into a stable, orderly, and integrated energy system [17]. The capacity of the world energy trade network continues to expand, and stable trade relations are gradually formed between countries, gradually evolving into a stable, orderly, and integrated system [18].…”