Evaluation and regional differences analysis of the marine industry development level: The Case of China

Abstract

The evaluation and regional differences analysis of marine industry development level play a significant role in the marine industry development of coastal regions. Taking China as an example, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation system with three dimensions of innovation, industrial structure, and outcomes according to the connotation of marine industry development. The entropy-based TOPSIS method is applied to calculate the marine industry development level in 11 coastal provinces of China from 2007 to 2019, and the Dagum Gini coefficient is used to analyze regional differences. It is found that: (1) The weight ranking of the evaluation system is innovation, outcomes, and industrial structure in order, indicating that innovation can best reflect the marine industry development level. (2) The Chinese marine industry development level shows a positive trend, and the progress is especially evident after the strategy of building a strong maritime country is proposed. (3) The intra-regional and inter-regional differences are narrowing, indicating that the coordination of regional development is enhanced. (4) The primary source of regional differences is the intensity of transvariation, so the government should pay attention to the coordinated development of marine industry among provinces, especially the backward provinces in the economic circle with high development level. The findings of this paper provide a useful reference for promoting China’s marine industry development.