Tourism growth and vulnerable employment in emerging and developing economies

Xinyun Zhang; Wen Yeen Chue

doi:10.23812/ssd9063

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Coordinated actions to protect biodiversity, incorporate renewable energy, and implement climate action are needed for sustainable development to be achieved in the context of global challenges like climate change, ecosystem destruction, and resource depletion. Climate action seeks to reduce the negative impact and strengthen the adaptive capacity of natural and human society. Climate action includes both adaptation and mitigation strategies. The transition to renewable power sources is of utmost importance to climate action because it helps to slow environmental degradation, curtail fossil fuel dependence, and significantly diminish greenhouse gas emissions. The adoption of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, is more environmentally friendly than conventional energy sources, but it may also pose potential risks towards biodiversity, so measures should be taken in planning to avoid negative environmental impacts. It is crucial to protect biodiversity around the world because it plays an important role in the delivery of ecosystem services such as soil fertility, pollination, water purification, and the sequestration of carbon that are vital to people’s existence. In addition, strong ecosystems reduce the severity of climate change impacts, such as storms, droughts, and flooding. However, there may be trade-offs when striving for the increase of renewable energy and biodiversity conservation. Renewable energy development should always be complemented with biodiversity protection. This approach preserves the environmentally delicate ecosystems that are crucial to achieving climate action targets. The combination of climate action, renewable energy, and the need for biodiversity makes it possible to reap many benefits. These include stronger ecosystems and better human health, as well as economic growth and job creation. One example of such a nature-based solution is agrovoltaics, which combines solar energy production and farming. Restoring ecosystems, like forests or wetlands, can also greatly enhance carbon sequestration, reduce global warming, and protect endangered wildlife. This strategy aligns with international initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), specifically SDGs 7, 13, and 15. It serves as a building block towards a more sustainable future. Despite the clear possibilities of synergy, there are still barriers that must be tackled. Policy fragmentation, resource competition, and lack of inter-sector cooperation are some of the challenges that inhibit effective integration. Therefore, equitable governance and the adoption of nature-based techniques are essential.

Tourism growth and vulnerable employment in emerging and developing economies

Xinyun Zhang, Wen Yeen Chue

Article ID: 9063
Vol 4, Issue 6, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23812/ssd9063

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Abstract

International tourism is widely promoted as a source of employment in developing economies, yet its relationship with employment structure remains less clear. Using annual data for 30 emerging and developing economies from 2000 to 2022, this study examines whether international tourist arrivals are associated with vulnerable employment, self-employment, employment-to-population ratios, unemployment, and sectoral employment. Two-way fixed-effects models are estimated with country-clustered standard errors. Higher lagged tourist arrivals are associated with larger shares of vulnerable employment and self-employment, while no stable association is detected for the employment-to-population ratio, unemployment, service employment, or agricultural employment. The vulnerable-employment result remains positive under alternative tourism measures, country-specific trends, alternative inference procedures, exclusion of the COVID-19 period, and leave-one-country-out tests, but weakens in dynamic and first-difference specifications. The evidence is therefore more consistent with persistent within-country co-movement in employment status than with an immediate causal response to annual tourism shocks. By distinguishing employment absorption from employment formalisation, the study shows why tourism performance should be assessed not only through visitor growth and aggregate job creation, but also through the employment arrangements in which economic activity is organised.

Keywords

international tourism; vulnerable employment; self-employment; employment structure; emerging and developing economies; panel data

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