The Potential for an Irish Maritime Transportation Cluster: An Input-Output Analysis

Economically, Ireland depends heavily upon its shipping sector. However, structural changes arising from the globalisation of shipping fleets and the recent global recession has resulted in a decline in Europe’s shipping sector. Acknowledging the need for direct measures to halt this decline the Irish government introduced a range of policies aimed at developing a maritime transportation cluster in Ireland. Research has indicated that industrial clusters are important for the creation of economic value at the national, regional and sectoral level. Disaggregating the 2007 Input-Output table to include ten additional marine based sectors, this paper examines the potential for developing a maritime transportation cluster given the current characteristics of the sector. The analysis found that given the strength of the maritime transportation linkages with the broader economy, including its intermediate input role in a number of key economic sectors, there is a clear rationale for the development of a cluster for the sector.