The effects of tourism on income inequality: A meta-analysis of econometrics studies

Abstract

Tourism has a significant impact on income inequality, which seems to be an academic consensus. However, there are still great differences in impact direction and intensity. This study uses the meta-analytic technique to reconcile the results of 12 econometrics studies derived from the Web of Science and Scopus databases examining the relationship between tourism and income inequality measured as the Gini coefficient. The results show that tourism increases income inequality significantly. Moreover, economic growth and trade openness positively moderate the effects of tourism on income inequality. Besides, the sample characteristics, including research period, midpoint of research period, sample size, destination type, and data type, significantly affect the relationship between tourism and income inequality as well. This study reaches a more reliable, robust and universal conclusion about the relationship between tourism and income inequality. Also, it gives theoretical and practical implications for future research and decision-makers.