This paper studies how digital infrastructure is associated with the spatial structure of international trade in goods. We embed data availability into a structural gravity framework, conceptualising it as an information friction that interacts with geographic distance and equilibrium market access. Using the topology of the global subsea cable network, we construct country-level measures of digital network position. We find that countries with greater digital network embeddedness, particularly on the exporter side, exhibit lower distance elasticities of trade. Other dimensions of digital connectivity are more closely associated with multilateral resistance, highlighting distinct channels through which digital infrastructure affects goods trade.

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11 March 2026

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Spatial Economic Analysis , pp.1-17, 2026

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DOI: 10.1080/17421772.2026.2636766

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17421772.2026.2636766

This Journal article is published under the centre's Trade programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Global firms