Exploring the Effects of Tourism Development on Air Pollution: Evidence from the Panel Smooth Transition Regression Model

Based on the theoretical framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), this study investigates whether tourism development can decrease air pollution. This study applies the panel smooth transition regression approach and panel data for 2005–2019 from 283 prefecture-level cities in China to examine the nonlinear effect of tourism development on PM(2.5), emissions. Our results reveal that the effects of tourism on PM(2.5), emissions vary according to the modes of tourist arrivals. At the national level, the effect of tourism on PM(2.5) emissions exhibits an inverted-U shape. At the regional level, tourism exerts a U-shaped impact on PM(2.5) emissions in eastern China, and tourism is nonlinearly negatively associated with PM(2.5) emissions in central and western China. An important theoretical contribution of our study is the proposal and validation of the U-shaped tourism-induced EKC hypothesis.