Identifying the community structure of the international-trade multi-network

The paper studies the community structure of the multi-network of commodity-specific trade relations among world countries over the 1992-2003 period. ► We find that commodity-specific community structures are very heterogeneous and much more fragmented than that characterizing the aggregate ITN. ► Commodity-specific community structures, especially those related to the chemical sector, are becoming more and more similar to the aggregate one. ► Geography-induced partitions are much more correlated with observed community structures than partitions induced by regional-trade agreements.