New evidence on tourism and quality of life for Argentinean jurisdictions

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the relationship between tourism specialization and quality of life across Argentinean jurisdictions from 2009 to 2019. We construct multidimensional indicators for both tourism specialization—capturing two supply-side and one demand-side dimension—and quality of life, assessed across nine domains including economy, education, environment, and technology. To address complexity and unobserved heterogeneity, we apply principal component analysis and fixed effects panel data models. Our findings reveal a positive and heterogeneous association between tourism specialization and quality of life. Notably, the economic dimension is most strongly linked to tourism, particularly on the supply side, while health and environmental dimensions show the weakest associations. From a policy perspective, the evidence suggests that promoting tourism can play a significant role in fostering stronger economic outcomes, and that policymakers should prioritize supply-side instruments to support this goal.