Feedback loops analysis of Japanese interregional trade, 1980-85-90

This paper examines the hierarchy of intra- and inter-regional trade flows within the Japanese economy over the period 1980-85-90. The methodology provides an opportunity to explore links between feedback loops analysis and the extraction of a hierarchy of flows using ideas from superposition principles. The resulting analysis of trade feedbacks may be seen to reflect the economic phenomena of horizontal and vertical trade specifications. While the process is explored analytically, the results are presented using visualization to help identify the different permutation matrices presenting the hierarchy of trade feedback loops.