IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12545-d678271.html

Do City Honors Increase Tourism Economic Growth? A Quasi-Natural Experimental Research Study Based on “Civilized City” Selection in China

Author

Listed:
  • Qiao Chen

    (School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Yan Mao

    (School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China)

Abstract

“Civilized City” is the highest honor in China’s urban evaluation system. This research used a quasi-natural experiment approach to evaluate how the “Civilized City” designation influence tourism economic growth. The results showed that: (1) “Civilized City” selection promotes the growth of the tourism economy, and its impact on tourism income is greater than on the number of tourists. The “Civilized City” award is more conducive to the growth of the tourism economy than other city honors; (2) the “Civilized City” honor promotes institutional supply and adjusts the allocation of capital and labor, thereby promoting the growth of the tourism economy; and (3) the analysis showed that the impact of the “Civilized City” honor on a city’s tourism economy varies according to region, administrative level, and population size. The results of this research provide empirical support that city honors boost tourism economy growth and yield new evidence for cities to promote tourism development through awards and accreditations.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiao Chen & Yan Mao, 2021. "Do City Honors Increase Tourism Economic Growth? A Quasi-Natural Experimental Research Study Based on “Civilized City” Selection in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12545-:d:678271
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12545/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12545/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Chi & Liu, Qiang & Ge, Guoqing & Hao, Ying & Hao, Han, 2021. "The impact of government intervention on corporate environmental performance: Evidence from China's national civilized city award," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    2. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    3. Lasse Steiner & Bruno Frey & Simone Hotz, 2015. "European Capitals of Culture and life satisfaction," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(2), pages 374-394, February.
    4. Pedro Gomes & Alejandro Librero-Cano, 2018. "Evaluating three decades of the European Capital of Culture programme: a difference-in-differences approach," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(1), pages 57-73, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qiao Chen & Yan Mao & Alastair M. Morrison, 2023. "Study on the Influence of Cultural Communication on the Development of the Visitor Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Jingan Chen & Chengdong Yi & Yourong Wang & Tianyu Bi, 2022. "Do Honored Cities Achieve a Sustainable Development? A Quasi-Natural Experimental Study Based on “National Civilized City” Campaign in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Jiayu Kang & Xuejun Duan & Wei Yan & Zhiyuan Ma, 2022. "Spatial Differentiation and Impact Factors of Tourism Development: A Case Study of the Central Plains, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Xinyu Wang & Wensen Wu & Haodong Li, 2023. "The Impact of City Ranking on Industry Shifting: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jingan Chen & Chengdong Yi & Yourong Wang & Tianyu Bi, 2022. "Do Honored Cities Achieve a Sustainable Development? A Quasi-Natural Experimental Study Based on “National Civilized City” Campaign in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Miroslav D. Vujičić & Uglješa Stankov & Vanja Pavluković & Ivana Štajner-Papuga & Sanja Kovačić & Jovana Čikić & Nemanja Milenković & Tamara Zelenović Vasiljević, 2023. "Prepare for Impact! A Methodological Approach for Comprehensive Impact Evaluation of European Capital of Culture: The Case of Novi Sad 2022," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 715-736, January.
    3. Xiong, Xuemei & Zheng, Ruoting & Liu, Chenlan & Huang, Xuanhao, 2025. "National civilized city award and corporate earnings management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Yang Haodong & Liu Jialin & Wang Gaofeng, 2025. "Knowledge Innovation Effect of University Computing Power in China: Evidence from the top500 Supercomputers," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 66(1), pages 1-30, February.
    5. Federica Alfani & Vasco Molini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro PalmaGran, 2024. "Job displacement and reallocation failure. Evidence from climate shocks in Morocco," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(1), pages 1-31.
    6. Cocco, Valentin & Chakir, Raja & Mouysset, Lauriane, 2025. "Guilty or scapegoat? Land consolidation and hedgerow decline," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Staples, Aaron J. & Deming, Kristopher & Malone, Trey & Carpenter, Craig W. & Weiler, Stephan, 2024. "Pouring the Paycheck Protection Program into craft beer: PPP employment effects in service-intensive industries," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    8. Toikka, Max & Saxell, Tanja & Siikanen, Markku, 2026. "Labor Market Effects of Private Provider Entry in Social and Health Services," Working Papers 184, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Xin Nie & Jianxian Wu & Han Wang & Weijuan Li & Chengdao Huang & Lihua Li, 2022. "Contributing to carbon peak: Estimating the causal impact of eco‐industrial parks on low‐carbon development in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1578-1593, August.
    10. Bahia, Kalvin & Castells, Pau & Cruz, Genaro & Masaki, Takaaki & Pedrós, Xavier & Pfutze, Tobias & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos & Winkler, Hernán, 2024. "The welfare effects of mobile broadband internet: Evidence from Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    11. Sina Akbari & Negar Kiyavash & AmirEmad Ghassami, 2025. "Semiparametric Triple Difference Estimators," Papers 2502.19788, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2025.
    12. Alessandro Bellocchi & Chiara Lodi & Giovanni Marin & Giuseppe Travaglini & Matteo Zavalloni, 2025. "Floods, Public Budgets and Fiscal Resilience: Evidence from Italian Municipalities," SEEDS Working Papers 1625, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Dec 2025.
    13. Lewis, Blane D., 2022. "The impact of democratic elections on taxation: Quasi-experimental evidence from subnational Indonesia," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    14. Martin Huber & Sarina Joy Oberhansli, 2026. "Difference-in-differences for mediation analysis using double machine learning," Papers 2602.23877, arXiv.org.
    15. Simone Balestra & Helge Liebert & Nicole Maestas & Tisamarie B. Sherry, 2021. "Behavioral Responses to Supply-Side Drug Policy During the Opioid Epidemic," NBER Working Papers 29596, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Philipp Barteska & Jay Euijung Lee, 2024. "Bureaucrats and the Korean export miracle," Discussion Papers 2024-11, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    17. Hans-Bernd Schaefer & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Islamic Law, Western European Law and the Roots of Middle East's Long Divergence: a Comparative Empirical Investigation (800-1600)," Papers 2401.14435, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    18. Susan Athey & Guido Imbens & Zhaonan Qu & Davide Viviano, 2025. "Triply Robust Panel Estimators," Papers 2508.21536, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2026.
    19. Julien Bergeot & Florence Jusot, 2024. "Les conséquences des besoins de soins non satisfaits pendant la pandémie de Covid-19 sur la fragilité des personnes de 50 ans et plus," Post-Print hal-05426513, HAL.
    20. Albanese, Andrea & Cockx, Bart & Dejemeppe, Muriel, 2024. "Long-term effects of hiring subsidies for low-educated unemployed youths," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12545-:d:678271. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.