Inequality in Scientific Impact: Evidence from the Hospitality and Tourism Literatur

Abstract

Although hospitality and tourism research has increasingly grown regarding quantity and quality, there is still little empirical research to uncover the unequal distribution of scientific impact. This study aims to provide empirical evidence regarding the degree of inequality in hospitality and tourism research performance. Gini coefficients and citation percentile are used to measure inequality. Grounded on resource-based view, data are analyzed at the article-, institution-, and country/region-levels to test the systematic effects on research output. By analyzing 3,224 papers with 20,345 citations, we found an unequal distribution of the hospitality and tourism literature. In addition, the inequality in research performance was intensified at high levels of systems. This study will contribute to the sustainable development of academic research.