Resource Constraints and Economic Growth: Empirical Analysis Based on Marine Field

To explore the contribution of marine resources to marine economic growth, this study uses panel data from 2006–2019 across 11 coastal provinces and cities in China and establishes threshold regression models using marine capital, labor, and science and technology as threshold variables affecting marine resources and economic growth. The findings reveal that the impact of marine resources on marine economic growth only demonstrates a single threshold effect under the primary industry marine resources; in general, with increased capital investment, the marine economy presents a positive development trend. The impact of primary and secondary marine resources on marine economic growth has a single threshold effect of labor input, while the impact of tertiary marine resources on marine economic growth has a double threshold effect of labor input. With investment in marine science and technology, marine resource development and utilization in the primary industries have played a consistent role in promoting marine economic growth. However, the impact of this role is gradually decreasing; marine resource development and utilization in the secondary and tertiary industries shows a development pattern wherein the driving effect of marine economic growth is first large, then small, and then large again. Based on the above analysis, China should promote the transformation of labor-intensive to capital-intensive industries by increasing investment in marine capital, training marine talent, and developing marine science and technology innovation to increase the development level of China’s marine economy.