Network-based evaluation of inter-industrial linkage structure and industry competitiveness

Abstract

Under today’s competitive economic environment, I emphasize the importance and usefulness of the “network analysis” that stresses the relationship, and “industry-level” analysis, one of the various hierarchical components of the national economic system. Under a qualitative industry evaluation framework to analyze interaction information, I first grasped the pattern, structural characteristics of connection and evolution of inter-industry networks based on ⑴ “production inducement” and ⑵ “convergence” relations among various inter-industry relations utilizing IOTs (Input-output tables) data. In the case of production inducement relationship, the implications for the future ICT industry policy are suggested by analyzing the structural characteristics and evolution of local networks centering on the Korea’s ICT industry. For the convergence relationship, I raise the necessity of establishing the effective industrial convergence policy by investigating the patterns and structural features of inter-industry convergence at the whole industrial system level. Next, I attempted to evaluate the ⑶ “competitiveness” of the industry (product) in terms of networking among objects using trade (export and import) data. By measuring the potential of growth by placing importance on the diversification of the relationship and comparing it with the quantitative evaluation indicators such as production and employment, I suggest a desirable development direction for an industry. The three research themes above extend theoretically the analysis of inter-industry linkage, which had been devoted mainly to the analysis of knowledge flow, innovation diffusion or industrial dynamics based on micro-data, to a macro-level tangible production system of a country, and are of practical value as an approach to show the usefulness of qualitative evaluation based on interaction (relationship, networking) which complements quantitative approach that assesses the industry through object-oriented performance indicators.