The nexus between tourism, economic growth, and environmental pollution at a regional level in Spain: a new CS-ARDL approach

Over recent decades, tourism has undergone rapid growth,contributing to economic growth. Moreover, recent studies haveincluded environmental variables in their analyses, although theytend to use a country-level approach despite the fact thattourism development takes place at a regional level. This studyanalyzes the relationship between tourism, economic growth, andthe environment in Spain during 2004–2021, using an innovativeapproach that analyzes the data at a regional level. Thehypothesis is that tourism affects economic growth and theenvironment. Using econometric analysis through CS-ARDL andcausality analysis, the short- and long-term relationships of thethree analyzed variables have been identified, adjusting theseestimates according to the presence of cross-dependencybetween the regions. The results verified the positive effects oftourism on economic growth, and the adverse effects of carbondioxide emissions on tourism. Theoretical and policy implicationsare suggested, and limitations are discussed.