The Role of Human Capital Development in Tourism: A Panel Data Analysis for Tourism-Dependent Economies

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between human capital and tourism receipts for the period of 1995-2017 in countries whose economy depends heavily on tourism receipts. For this purpose, panel data analysis was performed with Gengenbach, Urbain and Westerlund (2016) cointegration test and DOLSMG estimator. The study contributes to the literature, especially since the tests are made with the second-generation new econometric models and the country-based coefficient estimation results are obtained especially for the countries whose a high share of tourism receipts in GDP. According to the findings, a long-term relationship has been determined between human capital and tourism receipts. In addition, according to the coefficient estimate, the relationship between human capital and tourism receipts proved to be positive and statistically significant. Human capital development positively affects tourism receipts in this country group.