Research On Regional Economic Growth Based On Ecological Capital

Since the Industrial Revolution, the ecological capital has been supporting theexpansion of human economic and social development, but the stock of ecologicalcapital is declining and the effectiveness of the service of economic and social isfacing continuous reduction due to over-exploitation and waste of ecologicalresources. As a result, there appear worldwide ecological and environmental problemsgradually, and more and more people began to rethink the traditional model ofeconomic growth. Ecological capital should be taken account into the economicgrowth formula, which has become the consensus in academic circles gradually.The research process and technical methods applied in this study are as follows:1.The definition, characteristics and functions of the ecological capitals wereillustrated, and the role of ecological factors affecting the economic developmentprocess is analyzed. We explore the support and influence of ecological capitals withdifferent amount, distribution, and types on local economy, and then research therelationship among ecological capitals with different types.2.The innovation in this study is that the ecological capital is introduced intoneo-classical model of economic growth, based on which we calculate the technicalprogress and innovation factors of the seven coastal cities in Shandong (Binzhou,Dongying, Weifang, Yantai, Weihai, Qingdao, Rizhao). It will provide reference totechnological advance and innovation capability in these cities respectively and offeradvice to the Twelfth Five-year Construction for Shandong.3.Improving the innovation capacity for growth based on ecological capital is theonly way for the economic growth in Shandong. Regional Innovation Capability ofcoastal cities in Shandong is different, and by taking the data from2003to2009asexample, we can find that the annual average speed of technological progress inQingdao is14.41%, which is the highest in the seven cities mentioned above. Theother six coastal cities is Weihai, Dongying, Yantai, Binzhou, Rizhao and Weifangranging from high to low. 4.Negative correlation between entertainment and aquaculture production, andpositive correlation between entertainment and waste disposal is verified bycalculating the percents that the five ecological capital services (aquacultureproduction, fishing production, fishery production, waste disposal, entertainment) inthe seven cities accounts for in local economy respectively. Based on the two kinds ofrelations above, it is suggested that farm tourism like recreational fishing should berestricted, and the clean and health work in tourism area should be enhanced toimprove the value of entertainment and waste disposal simultaneously.5.The analyses of economic development supported by ecological capital arebased on two aspects. One is how the economic and social system affect ecologicalcapital reciprocally. The other is the economic growth model that is associated withthe factor of ecological capital. The correlation between ecological capital ofShandong offshore and territorial economy by empirical analysis is obtained. Weconclude the value of aquaculture production, fishing production, output of fisherysupported by the unit of biological resources in each of the seven coastal cities ofShandong, the highest of which is Weifang and Binzhou.6.Base on above analyses, corresponding proposals are presented in the lastsection. We should enhance the ecological capital investment, improve the basicproductivity of natural resources, reduce waste production, and then develop theservice economy and circulation economy and establish the official green GDPassessment mechanism. The goals are to add the quantity the ecological capital ofShandong offshore, reduce resource consumption, and promote the development ofsociety, economic growth and environmental protection harmoniously.The main innovations of this article are as follows. Firstly, ecological capitals areintroduced into neo-classical economic model, and the innovative ability to grow inthe seven coastal cities of the Shandong is studied. Secondly, the service value ofecological capitals in Shandong offshore are estimated for the first time using theevaluation of ecological capitals and the stock of ecological capitals are analyzed byratio approach, support analysis and regression analysis.