No abstract

This study investigates the effect of tourism development on urban-rural income inequality in China, a nation having fast economic growth and intense income disparity. While always remaining conscious of regional disparities of economic growth, this study examines the differences in the magnitude of effect tourism development has on mitigating urban-rural income inequality among the Eastern, the Central, and the Western regions of China. The sample period spans from 1994 to 2014, and the final sample consists of 30 provinces with 424 province-year observations. The results of this analysis demonstrate that tourism development has a decreasing effect on urban-rural income inequality. Moreover, the effect of tourism development on mitigating urban-rural income inequality is stronger throughout inland regions than it is in coastal regions. The results further imply that tourism contributes to improving economic conditions in rural areas as a result of spillover effects into related industries. This is especially true throughout inland regions.