Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce

Chaofan Liu; Nan Zhang

doi:10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797312.20261002

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Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce

Volume 10, Issue 2

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Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce
Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce
1.School of Economics, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
2.Yulin Municipal Party School, Yulin, Shaanxi, 719000, China
Vol. 10, Issue 2, Pages: 57-65(2026)
Published：28 February 2026
DOI：10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797312.20261002
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Liu Chaofan,Zhang Nan.Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce[J].Development Economics of China,2026,10(02):57-65.
DOI：

Liu Chaofan,Zhang Nan.Spatial Network Structure and Spillover Effects of the Fan Economy in E-commerce[J].Development Economics of China,2026,10(02):57-65. DOI： 10.47297/wspdecWSP2515-797312.20261002.

摘要

Abstract

With the rapid development of short-video platforms and live-streaming e-commerce

the fan economy in e-commerce has become an important engine of digital economic growth. Using Douyin livestreaming sales data for 291 prefecture-level cities in China

this paper examines the spatial network structure and spillover effects of the e-commerce fan economy by combining social network analysis with spatial econometric modeling. The results show the following. First

the e-commerce fan economy is not fully de-spatialized; rather

it continues to exhibit pronounced regional agglomeration

with stronger advantages in both total sales and sales per account in the southeastern coastal region and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei area. Second

the total-sales network is dominated by leading cities and features a strong hierarchy but relatively fragmented interactions

whereas the sales-per-account network better reflects the cohesion among secondary cities and shows a weaker overall hierarchy. Third

significant positive spatial spillovers exist among cities in both total sales and Sales per Account

while core cities simultaneously exert a certain siphoning effect on surrounding cities. Fourth

the siphoning effect in total sales depends more on transmission paths

whereas the siphoning effect in sales per account is more closely related to the transfer of resources and high-capability streamers. Robustness tests further confirm that the coexistence of overall positive spillovers and siphoning by core cities is robust. The findings suggest that policy should not only support the continued development of leading cities

but also promote more effective linkages between core cities and surrounding areas so as to optimize the spatial structure of the digital economy.

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references

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