A Brownian Agent Model for Analyzing Changes in Product Space Structure in China

Introduction

The past decade witnessed an advancement of researches on complex systems by the rise and development of new network science. With respect to product space evolution and economy development issues, Hidalgo, Barabasi and Hausmann introduced an outcome-based measurement to quantify proximities among products that countries export, and used network representations to visualize proximities among products [1]. Through which, they applied theory and methods from physics and economics to model and map the impact of “The Product Space” on the development of nations [1]. The map depicts co-export patterns of 775 industrial products exported by 132 countries during 1998-2000. With the help of network expression, they found that “most upscale products are located in a densely connected core while lower income products occupy a less connected periphery” [1].