), who questioned the definition of subsistence and argued that, in certain conditions, the initial slope of the curve would be downwards. The authors ask whether tourism development could provide these particular conditions. An important distinction is made between the perception of management of the market being in surplus or abundance. If the downward-sloping supply curve is the case, then the distress selling of labour that it implies would have implications for the quality of tourism products and for the capacity of tourism to alleviate poverty.