Abstract
Most studies examining the relationship between domestic tourism and urban-rural income inequality have found a positive correlation. However, the causal link between them is difficult to establish due to many potential sources of endogeneity. By including World Heritage Site (henceforth WHS) designation in the set of instruments, this paper estimates the causal effects of domestic tourism on urban-rural income inequality within 31 China’s provinces from 1998 to 2018. Our results show that developing domestic tourism can reduce urban-rural income inequality by raising income of rural residents more than twice as much as that of urban residents. Specifically, a 10% increase in domestic tourism earnings could increase the average disposable income of urban residents by 0.35% and that of rural residents by 0.94%, resulting in a 0.59% reduction in the urban-rural income ratio. According to channels analysis, domestic tourism enhances the disposable income of rural residents mainly through raising household operating income from agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
Highlights
Income Inequality: Evidence fromUrban-rural income inequality poses serious issues that threaten social stability, economic growth and sustainable development [1,2,3,4]
fixed effects (FE) estimates reported in columns 1 and 2 show that higher domestic tourism earnings are associated with lower urban-rural income ratio, and the effects are statistically significant at 10% level
This paper examines the causal effect of domestic tourism on urban-rural income inequality within 31 China’s provinces from 1998 to 2018
Summary
Urban-rural income inequality poses serious issues that threaten social stability, economic growth and sustainable development [1,2,3,4]. World Tourism Organization suggests that domestic tourism has the potential of reducing urban-rural income inequality [12]. In 2019, domestic tourism revenue reached 5.73 trillion RMB yuan, accounting for 86% of total tourism revenue in that year [13]. Both the central and local government have been vigorously promoting domestic tourism, such as rural and cultural tourism, in order to achieve regional economic development and urban-rural income equality [14].
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