Table 1.

Data and variable description for the panel estimations

Variable	Description	Definition	Source
${Trade\_Connectivity}_{\mathit{ijt}}$	Trade connectivity	Natural logarithm of eigenvector centrality (EVC) based on the matrix of bilateral trade flows derived using network analysis	Author’s calculations
${\mathit{GDPPC}}_{\mathit{it}}$	GDP per capita	Natural logarithm of per capita GDP in ppp terms	World Development Indicators (WDI)
${\mathit{Infra}}_{\mathit{it}}$	Infrastructure index	Natural logarithm of infrastructure index. The index is the PCA of 4 indicators; fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people), air transport (freight) million ton-km, energy use (kg of oil equivalent per capita), electric power consumption (kWh per capita)	Author’s own calculation based and WDI
${\mathit{TC}}_{\mathit{ijt}}$	Trade cost	Natural logarithm of simple average of aggregate tariff	WITS-TRAINS
${Transport\_Air}_{\mathit{it}}$	Air transport	Natural logarithm of air transport freight (million ton-km)	WDI
${\mathit{Power}}_{\mathit{it}}$	Power consumption	Natural logarithm of electric power consumption (kWh per capita)	WDI
${Ship\_connectivity}_{\mathit{it}}$	Shipping connectivity index	Natural logarithm of liner shipping connectivity index	WDI
${\mathit{FDI}}_{\mathit{it}}$	Foreign direct investment	Natural logarithm of FDI inflows in US$ million	WDI
${\mathit{FDI}}_{\mathit{it}}\times {\mathit{RTA}}_{\mathit{it}}$	FDI multiplied free trade agreement	FDI and FTA is number of free trade agreements for each country specific to the region	WDI