Digital Trade Feature Map: A New Method for Visualization and Analysis of Spatial Patterns in Bilateral Trade

Abstract

Product bilateral trade features can be organized and expressed in the Cartesian coordinate system by taking imports and exports as X and Y, which is similar to spatial visualization. Hence, geospatial expression and analysis methodologies can be applied in bilateral trade studies. In this paper, we propose a new digital trade feature map (DTFM) method for the visualization of bilateral trade features from a spatial perspective. The implementation process of DTFM can be summarized as feature extraction, visualization, and analysis. China–US bilateral trade data were used in several case studies. As the case studies show, the DTFM has the advantages of clear expression, easy operationalization and is highly extensible. Moreover, this method can provide a broader perspective for the understanding of trade features, i.e., in comprehensively considering the features of a specific product type and its neighbors. Furthermore, we propose an extensible DTFM application framework into which different trade features, different grid generation modes, and numerous spatial analysis models can be readily integrated.

Keywords

• geographic information science
• international trade
• spatial thinking
• heavy-tailed distribution
• grid
• geovisualization