Deep Blue Entrepreneurship: Ocean Venturing and Infinite Opportunity

Abstract

The “Blue Economy” is a recent topic of study that spans those economic activities which depend on ecosystem services, thereby including such sectors as tourism, maritime transport, energy, water, fishing, among others. However, there is only limited research approaching the added value produced by marine activities connected with these sectors. This research contributes to the literature by providing interpretations of blue economy factors in terms of their added economic value. The authors deployed secondary data from 2009 to 2020 from the European Union Economy Database to analyze six sectors involving maritime activities: coastal tourism, living marine resources, non-living marine resources, port activities, shipbuilding and repair, and maritime transport. This study highlights how the sustainability of countries depends on the ability to manage their natural resources, especially maritime resources. Furthermore, sustainability depends on the economic interpretation of countries and sectors over time with regard to creating value and managing the activities derived from ecosystem services.

Citation

Figueiredo, R., Soliman, M. and Al-Alawi, A.N. (2023), "Deep Blue Entrepreneurship: Ocean Venturing and Infinite Opportunity", Ferreira, J.J. and Murphy, P.J. (Ed.) Bleeding-Edge Entrepreneurship: Digitalization, Blockchains, Space, the Ocean, and Artificial Intelligence (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 5-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-724620230000016002