AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF TOURISM AND MACROECONOMIC VARIABLES ON ECONOMIC GROWTH OF SOUTH KOREA.

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between tourism and economic growth in South Korea. The study also used macroeconomic variables such as physical capital, exports and expenditure on health in studying this relationship. The paper uses time series data for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and tourist recipient and the three macroeconomic variables mentioned above. The study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to estimate the long run relationship model of GDP per capita and tourist recipient. The study tests the hypothesis that tourism induces economic growth and the findings revealed a positive relationship between economic growth and tourist recipient in South Korea. This suggests that tourists’ activities induce economic growth in South Korea. Other control variables have also suggest positive relationship with economic growth. The implication of the study is that it provides evident that tourism enhances growth.