The triangle of poverty, economic growth, and inequality in Central America: does tourism matter?
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between tourism, economic growth, inequality, and poverty reduction in the five countries of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua).
Design/methodology/approach
The study represents the first application of panel data modeling of poverty, economic growth and inequality as related to Central America. Unbalanced panel data are employed for the five Central America countries for the period 1980-2012.
Findings
The findings reveal three results: the relationship between poverty, inequality and economic growth varies relatively very little for different measures of economic growth; the null hypothesis that economic growth and inequality does not matter is rejected at the 1 percent level, and the coefficients are highly significant and with the expected signs; tourism matters for poverty reduction in Central America.
Originality/value
The paper represents the first application of panel data modeling poverty, economic growth, inequality, and tourism development in the context of Central America. Additionally, the study puts together the largest number of comparable observations on poverty, income, and income distribution for Central America during the period 1980-2012.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks the Center for Food and International Agriculture Policy (CIFAP), University of Minnesota for providing partial financial funding in support of implementing this study. Jackeline Zamora-Bolaños, Central Bank of Costa Rica; Pilar Ramos-Vargas and Eddy Madrigal-Méndez, INEC, Costa Rica; Olga L. Vanegas and Sebastian Monroy are recognized for their valuable research assistance.
Citation
Vanegas, M. (2014), "The triangle of poverty, economic growth, and inequality in Central America: does tourism matter?", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-03-2014-0014
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited