Effects of Domestic Tourism on Urban-Rural Income Inequality: Evidence from China

A 10% increase in domestic tourism earnings can reduce urban-rural income inequality by 0.59%, primarily by boosting rural residents' disposable income more significantly than urban residents'. This counterintuitive finding emerges from a study analyzing data across 31 Chinese provinces (1998–2018), which used UNESCO World Heritage Site designation as an instrumental variable to isolate causal effects. The research reveals that tourism disproportionately benefits rural households, lifting their income through agriculture, manufacturing, and services—contrasting with prior assumptions linking tourism to widening inequality. This challenges conventional narratives by demonstrating how well-managed tourism can serve as a tool for equitable development in coastal regions like the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf.

Zeng, Z., & Wang, X. (2021). Effects of Domestic Tourism on Urban-Rural Income Inequality: Evidence from China. Sustainability, 13(16), 9009. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169009