‘Gospel’ or ‘Curse’: How Tourism Resource Endowment Affects Human Capital

ABSTRACT Tourism resources and human capital have an important impact on regional sustainable development. Based on the resource curse theory, this paper combines the characteristics of the industry to analyze in depth the role of tourism resources on the level of human capital and the mechanism of influence. The results show that tourism resource endowment significantly relates to regional human capital in an inverted U‐shaped. The mediating effect analysis suggests that industrial structure mediates the relationship. The heterogeneity test indicates this relationship is evident only in the eastern regions. This research expands the application scope of the resource curse theory and the three‐step test method. It helps understand how tourism resources affect human capital through industrial structure and offers suggestions for sustainable tourism development and regional economic growth in China.