  Quantifying the importance and power of individual nodes depending on their
position in socio-economic networks constitutes a problem across a variety of
applications. Examples include the reach of individuals in (online) social
networks, the importance of individual banks or loans in financial networks,
the relevance of individual companies in supply networks, and the role of
traffic hubs in transport networks. Which features characterize the importance
of a node in a trade network during the emergence of a globalized, connected
market? Here we analyze a model that maps the evolution of trade networks to a
percolation problem. In particular, we focus on the influence of topological
features of the node within the trade network. Our results reveal that an
advantageous position with respect to different length scales determines the
success of a node at different stages of globalization and depending on the
speed of globalization.
