Assessing the dynamic impact of tourism, industrialization, urbanization, and globalization on growth and environment in Southeast Asia

The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of growth and environment in Southeast Asia. Extending existing research, this research builds on variables such as tourism, industrialization, urbanization, globalization, economic growth, and environment in a multivariate format. Cointegration tests and panel regression models are employed in the empirical analysis using panel data of Southeast Asian countries. The research discovers a long-run equilibrium relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, tourism, industrialization, urbanization, globalization, and economic growth. Accordingly, pertaining to short-run analysis, tourism, urbanization, and globalization directly affect economic growth while industrialization is insignificant. Further analysis shows the extent to which these factors impact environment. The results reveal an intriguing paradox that tourism negatively impacts carbon emissions in the region while industrialization and urbanization directly cause carbon emissions. These findings suggest the effectiveness of green or ecotourism in the region and highlight how Southeast Asian countries develop policies to curb carbon emission levels and leverage these attributes for sustainable environment.