El turismo como motor de crecimiento económico: impacto de las preferencias intertemporales de los agentes

This paper studies the relationships between tourism and economic growth through a dynamic model showing how the time preference affect the investment in a economic sector based on natural resources as tourism. Assuming extreme values, it is possible to verify that a high time preference or discounting rate (greater preference for the present consumption) leads to systems with negative net investment rates (gross investment rates equal to the depreciation rate) and to the natural resources depletion. Given the dynamic of the model, three results can be analized: constant economic growth, whose rate will depend on the willingness to the protection of the environment and the parameters of the model; a scenario with moderate economic growth according to positive values although low of the discounting rate; and a poverty trap situation in those societies with extremely low future valuation.