Do Tourism Development and Globalization Reinforce Ecological Footprint? Evidence From RCEP Countries

Abstract

Environmental degradation is one of the most urgent challenges facing governments and communities. Thus, the study aims to explore the influence of tourism development (TO), economic growth (GDP), and globalization (GLOB) on the environment (measured by the ecological footprint index, EF) in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries. By adopting a panel non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (panel NARDL) approach, the outcomes reveal that the impact of TO is an asymmetry in the long run but symmetry in the short run. More precisely, this study finds that positive changes in TO have a negative impact, while negative changes positively drive EF in the long run. In addition, the result also indicates that GDP positively influences EF, while GLOB has a significant negative impact on EF. Based on these findings, the work suggests practical policies for RCEP’s administrators to promote tourism and reduce ecological deficit.