# Construction of the Belt and Road Trade Cooperation Network from the Multi-Distances Perspective
## 3 Empirical Analysis  
Before regression, the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) of each variable was tested. The VIF of each variable was less than 10, indicating no serious multicollinearity in the model. To avoid the possible spurious regression problem in the model, the Levin-Lin-Chu (LLC) test (applicable to same roots) and the Fisher-ADF test (applicable to different roots) were both used to test the unit root of the data. The results showed that the level value, the first differencing value, and the second differencing value of each of the main variables in the model passed the unit root test, so the T statistic and F statistic of the estimates of the model were valid. To choose the proper estimation technique, we performed the F-test and Hausman test. The results showed that panel techniques with mixed effects were more applicable to the regressions than panel techniques with fixed effects or random effects, so we adopted panel techniques with mixed effects. To reduce the impact of heteroskedasticity on the model, the cross-sectionally weighted panel techniques with mixed effects was used for estimation. The results are shown in Table 3.  
1. The control variable \(Y_{j}\), the economic scale of the Belt and Road country, was significantly positive at the 1% level in all the regression results, supporting the basic conclusion of the gravity model that the trade flows between two economies are directly proportional to their economic scales. 2. Geographic Distance (DIS) was significantly negative at the 1% level in all the regression results, meaning the farther the geographic distance between two economies, the smaller their bilateral trade flows, further confirming the basic conclusion of the gravity model. 3. Factor Endowment Distance (DKL) was negative and passed the 1% significance test, indicating that the smaller the factor endowment distance between two economies, the greater the trade flows. This conclusion contradicts the Comparative Advantage theory. [PERSON] (2018), in studying China and the Belt and Road countries, attributed a similar result to the Belt and Road \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Variable** & **Sample** & **Mean** & **Standard Deviation** & **Maximum** & **Minimum** \\ \hline lnX & 620 & 21.35425 & 1.960806 & 24.91318 & 14.27680 \\ lnYj & 620 & 24.79791 & 1.646247 & 28.44794 & 20.14166 \\ lnDIS & 620 & 1.495190 & 1.690489 & 5.123532 & \(-\)2.886556 \\ lnDKL & 620 & \(-\)2.063136 & 1.073318 & \(-\)0.209086 & \(-\)7.555941 \\ lnCD & 620 & 0.546392 & 0.648607 & 1.841765 & \(-\)0.856048 \\ lnID & 620 & \(-\)1.626959 & 0.445997 & \(-\)0.538377 & \(-\)2.716474 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Descriptive statistics of the main variables. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l} \hline \hline
**Region** & **Counties** \\ \hline Mongolia-Russia & Russia, Mongolia \\ \hline Central Asia 5 Countries & Kazakhstan, Kyryzystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan \\ \hline Southeast Asia 11 Countries & Vietnam, Lao Republic, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Myanmar, East Timor \\ \hline South Asia 8 Countries & India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives \\ \hline Central and Eastern Europe 19 Countries & Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, \\ Montenegro, Macedonia, Bonsia and Herzegovina, Albania, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, \\ Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova \\ \hline West Asia, Middle East 20 Countries & Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, \\ Cyprus & Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Armenia, Georgia, \\ Azerbaijan, Egypt \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: \(\square\) indicates the countries that were excluded.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: The Belt and Road countries. countries being mainly developing countries and emerging economies with relatively small factor endowment differences without fully tapping their comparative advantages. DKL was only an estimation of the factor endowment distance.