Treasure Lying Beneath the Waters: Exploring the Deep Connections between Biodiversity and the Blue Economy

serhat Çamkaya¹Emine Kaya²Abdulkadir Barut^3*Kishwar Ali⁴Abdulmuttalip Pilatin^1,5,6*Abdelmohsen A. Nassani⁷

• ¹Kafkas university, kars, Türkiye
• ²turgut özal university, malatya, Türkiye
• ³Harran University, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
• ⁴Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
• ⁵Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Türkiye
• ⁶Turgut özel University, kars, Türkiye
• ⁷King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The Blue Economy has garnered significant attention in recent years as a sustainable approach to economic development, harnessing the potential of marine and coastal resources. Central to this concept is the intricate relationship between biodiversity and economic activities within aquatic ecosystems. This study aims to examine the impact of biodiversity on the Blue Economy in the 10 countries with the highest income from seas and oceans. To represent the Blue Economy, three key variables were identified, and three distinct models were constructed for analysis. The study employs second-generation econometric techniques to assess cross-sectional dependence, with the cointegration method and the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator serving as the benchmark. For sensitivity analysis, the Method of Moments-Quantile Regression (MMQREG) is applied. The econometric analysis reveals that biodiversity positively influences the Blue Economy, highlighting the importance of sustainable use and conservation of marine ecosystems for economic growth. Additionally, financial development is found to negatively affect the Blue Economy, while institutional quality has a positive effect. Rising carbon emissions have a detrimental impact, whereas higher GDP positively influences the Blue Economy. These findings underscore the critical role of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service valuation in ensuring the sustainability of the blue economy.