Blue economy development as government policy and community income: The mediation effect of digital technology

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Abstract

The Indonesian government’s economic policy tends to rely on the green economy rather than the blue economy, despite the latter’s great potential to increase income (Rizky et al., 2025). The purpose of this study is to test the influence of the development of the blue economy and digital technology on community income. Additionally, it examines whether digital technology mediates the impact of the blue economy on community income. This study uses a quantitative survey. This research collects data by distributing questionnaires directly to participants. The respondents in this research are blue economy actors based in Indonesia, including businesses in four districts on Madura Island: Bangkalan, Sampang, Pamekasan, and Sumenep. There were 150 questionnaires from actors, including fishermen, salt farmers, and scrap iron collectors. This study found that: 1) the development of the blue economy had no effect on community income, 2) the development of the blue economy had a significant effect on digital technology, 3) digital technology had a significant effect on community income, and 4) digital technology played a role in mediating the significant influence of the blue economy on community income.

Keywords: Digital Technology, Blue Economy, Community Income, Indonesia, Sea

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — B.H. and D.L.; Methodology — D.L. and N.H.; Validation — B.H. and D.L.; Investigation — M.S.A. and A.R.S.; Resources — N.H. and M.S.A.; Supervision — B.H. and N.H.; Data Curation — M.S.A. and A.R.S.; Writing — Original Draft — B.H., D.L., and N.H.; Writing — Review & Editing — B.H., D.L., and N.H.; Project Administration — M.S.A. and A.R.S.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: O13, O33, Q57

Received: 08.07.2025
Revised: 20.11.2025; 09.02.2026
Accepted: 03.03.2026
Published online: 06.03.2026

How to cite this paper: Haryadi, B., Leniwati, D., Herawati, N., Angraini, M. S., & Shafitri, A. R. (2026). Blue economy development as government policy and community income: The mediation effect of digital technology. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 15(2), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv15i2art7