Does population aging promote embeddedness in the regional medical device trade network? Evidence from RCEP member countries

Introduction Enhancing member countries' embeddedness in the RCEP medical device trade network is an important issue for addressing population-aging challenges across the region and promoting coordinated development and cooperation in the healthcare industry. Method Using data on 15 RCEP member countries from 2004 to 2023, this study constructs a regional medical device trade network and a network embeddedness index to examine how population aging affects member countries' embeddedness. Results The results indicate that the RCEP medical device trade network exhibits high density, strong connectivity, and low centralization, with trade linkages among members continuing to deepen. Population aging significantly increases members' embeddedness in the network. Mechanism analyses reveal that population aging promotes embeddedness primarily by enhancing the specialization of export products and consolidating import sources. Heterogeneity analyses show that this positive effect is more pronounced among non-ASEAN members, developing countries, and economies at advanced stages of population aging. Discussion These findings provide important policy insights for RCEP member countries seeking to respond to population aging, strengthen public health security capacity, and advance trade cooperation in the health and medical device sectors.