Tourism Carbon Kuznets-Curve Hypothesis: A Systematic Literature Review and a Paradigm Shift to a Corporation-Performance Perspective

Abstract

Since the introduction of the carbon Kuznets-curve hypothesis in the mid-1990s, the inverted U–shaped relationship between economic development and carbon emissions has remained a subject of debate in the social sciences. We engage tourism research in this debate, in a fourfold manner. First, we offer a systematic literature review concerning the role of tourism in the carbon Kuznets-curve hypothesis using a protocol-based reporting process. Second, we present the level of consensus with the carbon Kuznets-curve hypothesis and the conceptual gaps in the identified literature (n = 22). Third, we introduce an emerging concept, offering a novel tourism corporate/performance orientation to the carbon Kuznets-curve hypothesis. Fourth, we provide evidence of empirical validity using different econometric techniques from an international tourism corporation (n = 86) data set (2005–2018). The inverted U–shaped relationship between measures of economic and carbon performance among tourism corporations is a robust result under many different specifications.

Eco-Efficiency and Its Drivers in Tourism Sectors with Respect to Carbon Emissions from the Supply Chain: An Integrated EEIO and DEA Approach

“…During the study period, with the increase in revenue, the eco-efficiency of tourism sectors in Gansu demonstrated a U-shaped development pattern in which eco-efficiency first decreased and then increased. This pattern coincides with the environmental Kuznets curve theory [ 18 ]. Some scholars have also found similar results between tourism development and environmental impact [ 18 , 78 ], or in the eco-efficiency of urban [ 79 ] and regional [ 80 ] development.…”

“…This pattern coincides with the environmental Kuznets curve theory [ 18 ]. Some scholars have also found similar results between tourism development and environmental impact [ 18 , 78 ], or in the eco-efficiency of urban [ 79 ] and regional [ 80 ] development. Considering both the direct carbon emission and total emission scenarios, the ranking of the eco-efficiency of the three sectors is as follows: tourism hotels > travel agencies > scenic spots.…”

“…The core concept of eco-efficiency is an optimization scheme, which is a path to achieving economic growth while mitigating the environmental impact of tourism [ 17 ]. Against the backdrop of global climate change, carbon emissions are usually selected as the environmental ecology indicator in order to analyze tourism eco-efficiency, combined with data envelopment analysis (DEA), which can include multi-input and -output indicators [ 17 , 18 ]. Pan (2021) calculated tourism carbon emission efficiency based on the super-efficiency Slacks Based Measure (SBM-DEA), which is defined as a compound system that consists of tourism carbon emissions, tourism economic development, and tourism regional innovation [ 19 ].…”

Application of Multilevel Gray Model in Tourism Economic Performance Evaluation

“…Kumar [21] analyzed the determinants of tourism industry performance and explored the relative importance of each factor by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Bootstrap regression models. In addition, some scholars have used different quantitative methods to investigate the factors that affect the performance of tourism industry [22,23]. Perles-Ribes et al [4] studied the relationship between output and economic performance of hotel industry and measured the economic performance of hotel industry by using unit root test, analysis of covariance, and causality test, taking the number of tourists and exchange rate as the objects.…”

Mega shopping malls technology-enabled facilities, destination image, tourists’ behavior and revisit intentions: Implications of the SOR theory

“…This study adopted the current framework in the domain of tourism and hospitality (Booth et al, 2020;Papavasileiou and Tzouvanas, 2020). The framework comprises four successive steps: screening, identification, eligibility, and inclusion in the review study.…”