Tourism expansion, tourism uncertainty and economic growth: New evidence from Taiwan and Korea

This study examines the causal relationship between tourism expansion and economic growth in two Asian countries: Taiwan and South Korea. An EGARCH-M model with uncertainty factors is employed to examine the direction of causality between tourism expansion and economic growth, as well as the impulse impacts of uncertainty on both variables. The results indicate that the tourism-led economic growth hypothesis is supported for Taiwan while a reciprocal causal relationship is found for South Korea. The significant impacts of uncertainty on growth are also identified. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.