Conceptualizing, Observing, and Measuring of Economic Interdependence Between Trading Countries

The disparity in the theoretical issues as well as in the empirical findings is a set of important questions concerning how to define and measure “economic interdependence” in the literature of debates on the links between economic interdependence and conflict. In this paper, I conceptualized and measured the economic interdependence between trading countries based on the Barbieri’s and Oneal & Russett’s methods. Based on the mathematical relationships linking trade dependence, openness, and trade share in Oneal & Russett’s and Barbieri’s measurement of interdependence, Barbieri’s measure is inversely proportional to openness, where Oneal & Russett’s measure is directly proportional to it. Hence, Barbieri’s finding that interdependence is positively associated with conflict can be explained by her use of a measure that captures disconnectedness from the global economy, rather than interdependence. And Oneal & Russett’s empirical results support liberal thought in which economic interdependence promotes peace.