IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i18p3353-d266215.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonlinear and Spatial Effects of Tourism on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Bi

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

  • Jingjing Zeng

    (School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China)

Abstract

Reducing carbon emissions is crucial to the sustainable development of tourism. However, there are no consistent conclusions about the nexus between tourism and carbon emissions. Considering the possible nonlinear and spatial effects of tourism on carbon emissions, this paper employed spatial econometric models combined with quadratic terms of explanatory variables to explore the nexus between them using Chinese provincial panel data from 2003 to 2016. The main results are as follows: (1) There is a significant inverse U-shaped relationship between tourism development and carbon emissions. In the provinces whose tourism receipts are relatively low, the effects of tourism on carbon emissions are positive but decrease gradually as the tourism receipts increase and then shifts to negative and continues decreasing gradually when the tourism receipts beyond the critical value. (2) For the geographical proximity and industrial relevance, one province’s tourism development not only affects its carbon emissions but also affects its neighbors’ carbon emissions through spatial lag effect (indirect effect) which is also inverse U-shaped. (3) Carbon reduction policies, sustainable education, and transportation infrastructure all have significant moderating effects on the relationship between tourism and carbon emissions, but the moderating effect of the management efficiency of tourism is not statistically significant. Furthermore, improvements to the sustainable education and transportation infrastructure not only strengthen the direct negative effect of tourism on carbon emissions but also strengthen the indirect negative effect of tourism on carbon emissions. This study not only advances the existing literature but is also of considerable interest to policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Bi & Jingjing Zeng, 2019. "Nonlinear and Spatial Effects of Tourism on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:18:p:3353-:d:266215
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/18/3353/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/18/3353/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shi, Anqing, 2003. "The impact of population pressure on global carbon dioxide emissions, 1975-1996: evidence from pooled cross-country data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 29-42, February.
    2. Zeng, Jingjing & Liu, Ting & Feiock, Richard & Li, Fei, 2019. "The impacts of China's provincial energy policies on major air pollutants: A spatial econometric analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 392-403.
    3. Chao Bi & Minna Jia & Jingjing Zeng, 2019. "Nonlinear Effect of Public Infrastructure on Energy Intensity in China: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Alan Carlin, 2011. "A Multidisciplinary, Science-Based Approach to the Economics of Climate Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-47, April.
    5. Filimonau, Viachaslau & Dickinson, Janet & Robbins, Derek & Reddy, Maharaj Vijay, 2013. "The role of ‘indirect’ greenhouse gas emissions in tourism: Assessing the hidden carbon impacts from a holiday package tour," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 78-91.
    6. Zhonghua Cheng & Xiai Shi, 2018. "Can Industrial Structural Adjustment Improve the Total-Factor Carbon Emission Performance in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Huaping Sun & Samuel Attuquaye Clottey & Yong Geng & Kai Fang & Joshua Clifford Kofi Amissah, 2019. "Trade Openness and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Belt and Road Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Munday, Max & Turner, Karen & Jones, Calvin, 2013. "Accounting for the carbon associated with regional tourism consumption," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 35-44.
    9. Richard S.J. Tol, 2006. "The Impact Of A Carbon Tax On International Tourism," Working Papers FNU-120, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Nov 2006.
    10. Gossling, Stefan & Hansson, Carina Borgstrom & Horstmeier, Oliver & Saggel, Stefan, 2002. "Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 199-211, December.
    11. Katircioglu, Salih Turan, 2014. "International tourism, energy consumption, and environmental pollution: The case of Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 180-187.
    12. Zaman, Khalid & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Loganathan, Nanthakumar & Raza, Syed Ali, 2016. "Tourism development, energy consumption and Environmental Kuznets Curve: Trivariate analysis in the panel of developed and developing countries," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 275-283.
    13. Tang, Chengcai & Zhong, Linsheng & Ng, Pin, 2017. "Factors that Influence the Tourism Industry's Carbon Emissions: a Tourism Area Life Cycle Model Perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 704-718.
    14. Sun, Ya-Yen, 2016. "Decomposition of tourism greenhouse gas emissions: Revealing the dynamics between tourism economic growth, technological efficiency, and carbon emissions," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 326-336.
    15. Sun, Ya-Yen, 2014. "A framework to account for the tourism carbon footprint at island destinations," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-27.
    16. Lin, Tzu-Ping, 2010. "Carbon dioxide emissions from transport in Taiwan's national parks," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 285-290.
    17. Yannan Zhou & Jixia Huang & Mingxiang Huang & Yicheng Lin, 2019. "The Driving Forces of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions Have Spatial Spillover Effects in Inner Mongolia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Yingying Zhou & Yaru Xu & Chuanzhe Liu & Zhuoqing Fang & Jiayi Guo, 2019. "Spatial Effects of Technological Progress and Financial Support on China’s Provincial Carbon Emissions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-22, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoqin Chen & Shenya Mao & Siqi Lv & Zhong Fang, 2022. "A Study on the Non-Linear Impact of Digital Technology Innovation on Carbon Emissions in the Transportation Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Xuan Chang & Jinye Li, 2022. "Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Durbin Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Yiyang Sun & Guolin Hou, 2021. "Analysis on the Spatial-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Spatial Network Structure of Tourism Eco-Efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-29, March.
    4. Anuman Chanthawong & Therdchai Choibamroong, 2022. "Dynamic Linkages of Carbon Emissions, Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, Tourism Indicators and Population: Evidence from Second-tier Cities in Thailand," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(5), pages 61-72, September.
    5. Qiao Chen & Yan Mao & Alastair M. Morrison, 2021. "Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Tourism Carbon Emissions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Sun, Ya-Yen & Gossling, Stefan & Zhou, Wanru, 2022. "Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    7. Heekyun Oh, 2024. "The Moderating Role of ESG Administration on the Relationship between Tourism Activities and Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Basic Local Governments in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-26, June.
    8. Zhang, HongWei & Ben, Fang & Qin, Meng, 2024. "Mineral resources, tourism, human capital, and carbon neutrality: A path towards balanced and sustainable development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. Dandan Liu & Dewei Yang & Anmin Huang, 2021. "LEAP-Based Greenhouse Gases Emissions Peak and Low Carbon Pathways in China’s Tourist Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Kai, Zhang & Sharaf, Mohamed & Wei, Siao-Yun & Shraah, Ata Al & Le, Luan Thanh & Arvind Bedekar, Dr Abhay & Bani Ahmad, Ahmad Y.A., 2024. "Exploring the asymmetric relationship between natural resources, fintech, remittance and environmental pollution for BRICS nations: New insights from MMQR approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Jun Zhang & Youhai Lu, 2022. "Exploring the Effects of Tourism Development on Air Pollution: Evidence from the Panel Smooth Transition Regression Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Yue Pan & Gangmin Weng & Conghui Li & Jianpu Li, 2021. "Coupling Coordination and Influencing Factors among Tourism Carbon Emission, Tourism Economic and Tourism Innovation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    13. Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Abbas, Jaffar & He, Chang & Pilař, Ladislav & Shah, Syed Ale Raza, 2023. "Tourism, urbanization and natural resources rents matter for environmental sustainability: The leading role of AI and ICT on sustainable development goals in the digital era," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chengcai Tang & Ziwei Wan & Pin Ng & Xiangyi Dai & Qiuxiang Sheng & Da Chen, 2019. "Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Carbon Emissions and Their Influencing Factors for Tourist Attractions at Heritage Tourist Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Can Tansel TUGCU & Mert TOPCU, 2018. "The impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on tourism: Does the source of emission matter?," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(614), S), pages 125-136, Spring.
    3. Tang, Chengcai & Zhong, Linsheng & Ng, Pin, 2017. "Factors that Influence the Tourism Industry's Carbon Emissions: a Tourism Area Life Cycle Model Perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 704-718.
    4. Shuxin Wang & Yiyuan Hu & Hong He & Genxu Wang, 2017. "Progress and Prospects for Tourism Footprint Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    5. Fangming Qin & Jingyan Liu & Gang Li, 2024. "Accounting for tourism carbon emissions: A consumption stripping perspective based on the tourism satellite account," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(3), pages 633-654, May.
    6. Chengcai Tang & Linsheng Zhong & Wenjing Fan & Shengkui Cheng, 2015. "Energy consumption and carbon emission for tourism transport in World Heritage Sites: a case of the Wulingyuan area in China," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2), pages 134-150, May.
    7. Zha, Jianping & He, Lamei & Liu, Yang & Shao, Yuhong, 2019. "Evaluation on development efficiency of low-carbon tourism economy: A case study of Hubei Province, China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 47-57.
    8. Muhammad Khalid Anser & Zahid Yousaf & Usama Awan & Abdelmohsen A. Nassani & Muhammad Moinuddin Qazi Abro & Khalid Zaman, 2020. "Identifying the Carbon Emissions Damage to International Tourism: Turn a Blind Eye," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Sun, Ya-Yen & Cadarso, Maria Angeles & Driml, Sally, 2020. "Tourism carbon footprint inventories: A review of the environmentally extended input-output approach," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Bing Xia & Suocheng Dong & Zehong Li & Minyan Zhao & Dongqi Sun & Wenbiao Zhang & Yu Li, 2022. "Eco-Efficiency and Its Drivers in Tourism Sectors with Respect to Carbon Emissions from the Supply Chain: An Integrated EEIO and DEA Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-26, June.
    11. Jianping Zha & Rong Fan & Yao Yao & Lamei He & Yuanyuan Meng, 2021. "Framework for accounting for tourism carbon emissions in China: An industrial linkage perspective," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1430-1460, November.
    12. Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Driha, Oana M. & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sinha, Avik, 2020. "The effects of tourism and globalization over environmental degradation in developed countries," MPRA Paper 100092, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Sun, Ya-Yen, 2016. "Decomposition of tourism greenhouse gas emissions: Revealing the dynamics between tourism economic growth, technological efficiency, and carbon emissions," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 326-336.
    14. Luo, Fen & Becken, Susanne & Zhong, Yongde, 2018. "Changing travel patterns in China and ‘carbon footprint’ implications for a domestic tourist destination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Lingling Chen & Lin Yi & Rongrong Cai & Hui Yang, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Correlation among Tourism, CO 2 Emissions, and Economic Growth in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-31, July.
    16. Yue Pan & Gangmin Weng & Conghui Li & Jianpu Li, 2021. "Coupling Coordination and Influencing Factors among Tourism Carbon Emission, Tourism Economic and Tourism Innovation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Sun, Ya-Yen & Gossling, Stefan & Zhou, Wanru, 2022. "Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Oscar Trull & Angel Peiró-Signes & J. Carlos García-Díaz, 2019. "Electricity Forecasting Improvement in a Destination Using Tourism Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-16, July.
    19. Ling Li & Jingjing Li & Ling Tang & Shouyang Wang, 2019. "Balancing Tourism’s Economic Benefit and CO 2 Emissions: An Insight from Input–Output and Tourism Satellite Account Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    20. Rui Wang & Bing Xia & Suocheng Dong & Yu Li & Zehong Li & Duoxun Ba & Wenbiao Zhang, 2020. "Research on the Spatial Differentiation and Driving Forces of Eco-Efficiency of Regional Tourism in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:18:p:3353-:d:266215. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.