Changing structures of B2B networks in the Japanese textile and apparel industry Economic relationships between core and peripheral networks from the perspective of complex systems

• Published in: Fashion and textiles Vol. 7; no. 1
• Main Authors: Ogai, Yusaku, Matsumura, Yoshiyuki, Hoshino, Yusuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 15.03.2020
• Subjects: Business and Management; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Environment; Life Sciences; Textile Engineering; Complex systems; Japanese textile and apparel industry; Business to business (B2B) networks
• ISSN: 2198-0802; 2198-0802
• DOI: 10.1186/s40691-019-0198-9

The aim of the present study was to evaluate how the business-to-business (B2B) networks in the Japanese textile and apparel industry changed between 2005 and 2010 using data on 200 companies. Network analysis was used to study the properties of the B2B networks, and how their structures changed was characterized using the USD/JPY exchange rate. The network analysis revealed power-law properties of the B2B networks, and the core networks characterized by the largest degree centrality exhibited positive correlations with the USD/JPY exchange rate. By contrast, the peripheral networks characterized by the network path length exhibited the negative correlations with the exchange rate USD/JPY. Therefore, the changes that occurred in the B2B networks are explained as the complementarity of comparative advantages originating in the USD/JPY exchange rate. Moreover, the USD/JPY exchange rate affected the B2B networks through not only the complementarity of importing and exporting but also by changing the structures.