The Role of Economics in Tourism Postgraduate Research: An Analysis of Doctoral Dissertations Completed between 2000-2010

Abstract

While economics was one of the first disciplines to inform tourism research its contribution to tourism postgraduate research remains relatively undiscovered; in addition there has been an apparent decline in the influence of economics on tourism research. This research examines the contribution of economics to a subset of tourism doctoral dissertations completed in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, providing insight into how economic theories and methods have helped shape the field. Based on a content analysis of 118 tourism doctoral dissertations produced between 2000 and 2010 the most common concepts or theories informing tourism economic theses were impact theories, tourism demand and political economics, with quantitative methods dominating. Further research is still needed to determine the consequences of the declining influence of economics on tourism research, scholarship and practice.