Abstract

This book extends the current international interest in the conceptualization of the marine sector to explore its importance of at different geographical scales: from the national, to regional and small area analysis within the context of base theory, New Economic Geography, agglomeration theory, industrial cluster policy and small area level analysis. In conjunction with each spatial scale and its associated theories, a number of computational methods are used to explore the economic impact of the marine resource. Input-Output tables will be used to demonstrate how the direct and indirect economic impact of the marine sector may be measured at the national level. Location Quotients will be used to regionalize these input-output tables, allowing a regional level analysis of the importance of the marine sector. Finally, a spatial microsimulation model will be used to examine the impact of the sector at the small area level.

In a time, where societal impact is increasingly important, this book is of interest to policy makers, both academic and planner practitioners, physical scientists interested in estimating the impact of research on society and the wider social sciences including geography and sociology. In engaging a wide audience this book also aims to bridge some of the gaps encountered by those carrying out inter-and multi-disciplinary research by conceptualizing the marine as a commercial resource that requires management and planning. This book aims to engage academics, professionals and policy-makers on the importance of the marine resource to society.
Karyn Morrissey is Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School. She is a trained economist and her work is interdisciplinary in nature, primarily working in economics and quantitative geography. She has published several papers on the marine sector and in 2014 co-authored Spatial Microsimulation for Rural Policy Analysis published by Springer.
The marine environment supports many millions of jobs worldwide. In her excellent book, Dr. Morrissey provides a thoughtful review and synthesis of methods that can be used to provide a much-needed empirical basis for managing the diverse and often competing economic demands on the marine environment, addressing the formidable task of defining, measuring, and analyzing the marine economy.
Jeffery Adkins, Economist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
This book is a Tour de Force of the contemporary marine economy as a multi sector industry. Morrissey weaves a thread through economic and spatial theories, to provide evidence based assessments of current trends and impacts, including detailed case material from Ireland. This book is to be highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the fascinating subject of the Blue Economy. This is a timely production, addressing a major gap in data and information surrounding the development of the marine economy across scales, from global to local. Morrissey has her finger on the pulse of the growing global maritime economy opportunity.
Val Cummins, Co-founder and Director of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC)
Economics of the Marine is an important support to understand economic activities in the world’s oceans and coasts. Besides multiple traditional activities, the modern marine economy involves unprecedented characteristics that require special methodological approaches for their understanding. Discussing also topics like regional development, marine clusters and economic specialization, this book supports both experienced professionals and students specializing into marine affairs.
Risto Kalliola, Professor of Geography, University of Turku, Finland
I welcome Karyn’s much needed book on measurement of the burgeoning marine economy. As technology moves closer to parity with ambition in the race to exploit marine resources, our capacity to expose the economic effects needs to get its skates on to catch up. This book is comprehensive in approach and a groundbreaking addition to the literature.
Kate Johnson, Assistant Professor, ICIT Heriot-Watt University, Orkney, Scotland
The Marine Economy is crucial to advancement of the contemporary international dialogue on ocean economics. Making the case that the value of the marine sector’s contribution is under-examined, the volume makes the case that sophisticated social and economic indicators are indispensable to effective marine conservation and management, and can be applied to innovative policy approaches that facilitate sustainable outcomes for proactively planned, orderly, and equitable resource development. This pioneering work is a necessity for interdisciplinary marine professionals and students alike.
Holly V. Campbell, Instructor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University