Most influential countries in the international medical device trade: Network-based analysis

Xiao Bai; Xiaoqian Hu; Chao Wang; Ming K Lim; André L M Vilela; Pezhman Ghadimi; Cuiyou Yao; H Eugene Stanley; Huji Xu

doi:10.1016/j.physa.2022.127889

Most influential countries in the international medical device trade: Network-based analysis

Physica A. 2022 Oct 15:604:127889. doi: 10.1016/j.physa.2022.127889. Epub 2022 Jul 2.

Authors

Xiao Bai¹, Xiaoqian Hu², Chao Wang³, Ming K Lim⁴, André L M Vilela⁵, Pezhman Ghadimi⁶, Cuiyou Yao², H Eugene Stanley⁷, Huji Xu^{8

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Affiliations

¹ Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
² School of Management and Engineering, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China.
³ College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
⁴ Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
⁵ Física de Materiais, Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 50100-010, Brazil.
⁶ Laboratory for Advanced Manufacturing Simulation and Robotics, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
⁷ Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
⁹ School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the international medical device trade has received extensive attention. To maintain the domestic supply of medical devices, some countries have sought multilateral trade cooperation or simply implemented export restrictions, which has exacerbated the instability and fragility of the global medical device market. It is crucial for government policymakers to identify the most influential countries in the international medical device trade and nip exports in the bud. However, few efforts have been made in previous studies to explore various countries' influence on the international medical device trade in light of their intricate trade relationships. To fill these research gaps, this study constructs a global medical device trade network (GMDTN) and explores the criticality of various countries from a network-based perspective. The evolution patterns and geographical distribution of influence among countries in the GMDTN are revealed. Details on the ways in which the influence of some crucial countries has formed are provided. The results show that the global medical device trade market is export oriented. The formation of some countries' strong influence may be due to their large number of trading partners or the deep dependence of some of those trading partners on that country (namely, breadth- or depth-based patterns). It is worth noting that the US has a dominant position in the international medical device trade in terms of both breadth and depth. In addition, some countries play a critical role as intermediate points in the influence formation process of other countries, although these countries are not critical direct trading partners. The findings of this study provide implications for policymakers seeking to understand the influence of countries on the international medical device trade and to proactively prepare responses to unexpected changes in this trade.

Keywords: Complex network; Influential countries; Medical device; Trade network.