Measurement,Influencing Factors,and Convergence Of Marine Resource Intensity In China

Marine resources are one of the key elements of marine economy in a country and a coastal region.With the continuous growth in the scale of marine economy and intensifying in-depth marine exploitation since the 1990 s,the consumption of marine resources has been increasing rapidly under the mode of traditional extensive marine economic growth.This dramatic increase in consumption of marine resources has produced a series of problems related to its sustainability.Under such huge resource pressure,it is particularly important to improve the marine resource utilization efficiency and reduce the marine resource intensity(It is an important indicator for measuring the resource utilization efficiency).The China Ocean Development Report(2014)stated that it should focus on promoting the transformation of the marine economy to quality and efficiency,and stressed that the core of marine economic development should be to further improve the marine resource utilization efficiency.However,due to the significant differences in the endowment of marine resources in the coastal provinces of China,the development and utilization of marine resources and the different demand structures between provinces result in significant differences in the marine resource intensity.Therefore,studying the changing trends,influencing factors and convergence of China's marine resource intensity has clear guiding significance for promoting the development of marine economy and formulating marine resource management policies based on sustainable development.Based on the connotation of the marine resource intensity,this paper measures the marine resource intensity in 11 coastal provinces of China(excluding Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan)from 1996 to 2015,and analyzes its changing trend.On this basis,discussion on the main influencing factors of the marine resource intensity in China based on GMM model,and using ?-convergence,stochastic convergence,absolute ?-convergence and conditional-?convergence model to examine the marine resource intensity convergence for 11 coastal regions of China.Finally,combined with empirical test results,some of the main recommendations for policy recommendations on marine resource management are as follows:(1)The marine resource intensity showed a significant downward trend from 1996 to2015,dropping from 2.609 to 0.333,and with a certain downward space.The marine resource intensity in the 11 coastal provinces showed a trend of decreasing year by year,and in the provinces with high early marine resource intensity,its falling space is relatively large;the marine resource intensity in coastal provinces is significantly different,which can be divided into three types:low intensity,medium intensity and high intensity.Among them,Shanghai,Fujian,Liaoning,and Guangdong are always low-intensity.Jiangsu,Guangxi and Hainan are always medium-intensity and low-intensity.Shandong is always medium-intensity.Zhejiang experienced a process from low-intensity,high-intensity to medium-intensity.Tianjin and Hebei have always belonged to high-intensity or medium-intensity.(2)Analysis of influencing factors of marine resource intensity based on GMM model shows that between 1996 and 2015,the level of marine economic development,marine industry structure and the level of scientific and technological have a significant positive impact on the reduction of marine resource intensity.The reduction of the marine resource intensity has a significant negative impact,while the degree of openness has not passed the model test,and the impact on the marine resource intensity is not significant.Therefore,the development of marine resource management policies must consider reducing the marine resource intensity through multiple channels.(3)The convergence test results of marine resource intensity based on convergence model show that there is ?-convergence and absolute ?-convergence in China's marine resource intensity from 1996 to 2015,and the convergence rate is 0.14%.It shows that the provinces with high marine resource intensity in China have a tendency to catch up with the provinces with low marine resource intensity,that is,the “catch-up effect” is formed,and the difference in the marine resource intensity between coastal provinces is gradually becoming smaller.However,due to the small convergence speed,this difference is difficult to eliminate in a short time;more than 70% of the coastal resources in coastal provinces are affected by the impact is sustained,so there is no global random convergence;there is no conditional?-convergence,indicating that the marine resource intensity in the coastal provinces of China ultimately do not will converge to its own steady state level.Therefore,it is necessary to carry out relevant policy interventions to narrow the gaps between provinces.