The impact of tourism growth on income inequality: Evidence from developing and developed economies

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the effects of tourism indicators on income inequality (IIE) in a sample of 102 countries. We divide the sample countries into 71 developing and 31 advanced economies. Using annual data from 1995 to 2014, we employ panel unit root tests, cointegration, fixed-effects, fully modified ordinary least squares, and causality techniques. Our findings show that tourism indicators have a significant negative impact on IIE in developing economies, while they have an insignificant impact in developed economies. Conversely, economic globalization increases IIE in developing economies, whereas its effect is positive but statistically insignificant in developed countries. From these findings, the study outlines detailed policy and practical implications.