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local governments. Given the nature of tourism
and its dependency upon many elements that are
outside of the pricing mechanism, the study of
public sector involvement and finance is particularly
relevant.
The above points, although by no means
exhaustive, provides an insight into the many
different aspects of economics relevant to the study
of tourism and its development. Different destinations
will have different economic priorities with
respect to tourism activity and its development. For
instance, some economies may have an abundance
of labour and consequently seek to implement
those forms of production that are labour-intensive,
thereby exploiting comparative advantage in that
area. Other destinations may find that their
comparative advantage may be related to capital
or particular physical resources. All of these aspects
will bring with them different implications for the
application of economic theories and the development
of tourism. The major driving force underlying
tourism development is predominantly
economic, whereas considerations relating to environment
and social considerations are often
secondary in importance and seen as constraints
upon development rather than goals.
There is often a tendency to consider economics
as being confined purely to impact, development
and market failure issues. However, economics can
also be used to assist in quantifying both the social
and environmental consequences of tourism and its
development. Indeed, more recent research utilises
economic methodologies to determine the direct
and indirect environmental impact associated with
tourist spending.
See also: economics, ecological; informal
economy
Further reading
Bull, A. �1995) The Economics of Travel and Tourism,
2nd edn, Australia: Longman.
Ioannides, D. and Debbage, K. �1998) The Economic
Geography of the Tourist Industry, London: Routledge.
Lundberg, D., Stavenga, M. and Krishnamoorthy,
M. �1995) Tourism Economics, New York: Wiley.
Sinclair, M.T. and Stabler, M. �1997) The Economics
of Tourism, London: Routledge.
economics, ecological
economics, ecological 163
JOHN FLETCHER, UK
Ecological economics is a field of study that has
developed strongly during the final two decades of
the twentieth century. An international society
which publishes the Ecological Economics journal
describes the field as transdisciplinary, one that
spans and builds upon many others. A key purpose
of ecological economics is to investigate and better
understand notions of sustainability �see sustainable
development) and equity as they relate to
all levels of human endeavour.
An increasing international awareness that
global life support systems are endangered has
led to the realisation that decisions made on the
basis of short-term criteria can produce disastrous
long-term results, at the local, regional or global
scales. Further, there has been growing recognition
that the conventional approaches and recommendations
of economics and ecology have fallen
short in their ability to address complex environmental
problems in a systematic way. These factors
have been significant in the emergence of ecological
economics as a field of study.
Ecological economics is distinct from both
ecology and economics, although it may embody
many concepts from each. However, it would be
erroneous to presume that it is simply a more
`green' economics than environmental economics
or resource economics. Indeed, practitioners may
draw from diverse areas such as sociology,
management, law, agriculture, political
science, geography, biology, public health,
accounting, urban planning, engineering �see
environmental engineering) and theology �see
religion). Ecological economics is by nature
pluralistic and encourages the use of a systems
approach �see systems theory) in understanding
the dynamics of whole ecosystems inclusive of
humans and their diverse activities.
An example of ecological economics being
applied to tourism is found in van den Bergh
�1995) on work undertaken in an island region in