The role of the maritime industry in the Korean national economy: an input–output analysis

Environmental changes at home and abroad as well as rapid advancement in ocean technology are calling for a great shift in the perception of the maritime industry and for new policy measures. This situation demands that researchers provide policy-makers with accessible and reliable information regarding the role of the maritime industry. This study employs input–output (I–O) analysis to examine the role of the maritime industry in the national economy for the period 1975–1998, with specific application to Korea. This paper, therefore, has two major goals. The first is the development of a static I–O framework for examining the role of the maritime industry in the short run. The second goal is obtaining at least a preliminary indication of the role of the maritime industry. This study pays particular attention to the maritime industry by taking the industry as exogenous and then investigating its economic impacts. Finally, we present the results, which address inter-industry linkage effects in 32 sectors, production-inducing effects, employment-inducing effects, supply-shortage effects of the maritime sector and pervasive effects of price change in the maritime sector.