Service Economies in Europe : Opportunities for Growth.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of tables and figures -- Foreword and acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction -- Major empirical trends: an overview -- A new framework and unsolved issues -- Aim of the study -- 2. Definitions, classifications and measurement -- What are services? -- Classification problems and new schemes -- Measurement problems: a real issue? -- 3. The role of services in the development process: an overview -- Incomplete service theories -- The role of services in economic growth -- - Real growth and productivity issues -- - Employment issues -- - Internationalization issues -- - Locational issues -- 4. Consumer services: determinants and interlinkages -- The importance and growth of consumer services -- Some important determinants for consumer service demand -- - Income, income distribution and household size -- - Relative prices and the self-service economy -- - Time-constraints, increased leisure and lifestyle changes -- Policy implications -- 5. The 'new economy': the growing importance of service functions -- The transformation of the economy -- - From mass to flexible production -- - The transformation of products -- - The transformation of markets -- - The internationalization of the economy -- - Changing production processes -- The growing importance of service functions - empirical evidence -- - Cost-structure and non-material investments as indicators for service functions -- - Occupational structure of employment -- - Employment by work content -- - Changing qualifications requirements -- Policy implications -- 6. Demand for producer services -- Determinants of producer service demand -- - Complementarity versus economies of scale -- - Organizational structure and management procedures -- - Attractiveness of producer services -- - The nature of the labour market.

- The role of information technologies -- - Regulations -- - Need for further differentiation -- Demand for producer services - empirical facts -- - Purchases of services by manufacturing and service industry -- - The role of intermediate demand in the growth of the service sector -- - The degree of the externalization -- Externalization of tertiary functions and the performance of firms -- 7. Supply of producer services -- Growth and structural development of producer services -- - General survey -- - Financial services -- - Business services -- - Other business services -- - Is Europe lagging behind? -- Productivity growth and production factors -- - Some empirical evidence -- - Capital inputs and technical progress -- - New technologies and producer services -- Constraints on the development of producer services -- - Public regulations and fiscal policy -- - Infrastructure -- - Manpower qualifications -- - Financial constraints -- Policy implications -- 8. Summary and conclusions -- Bibliography -- Name index -- Subject index.

This book is about the growth and the role of services in the overall growth of the European economy to develop an adequate framework for assessing the service sector and for making policy recommendations. It aims to take stock of the existing knowledge and gaps in producer services.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.