-
The services sector now accounts for over 70% of total employment and value added in OECD economies. It also accounts for almost all employment growth in the OECD area. But despite its growing weight, productivity growth in services has been slow in many OECD countries and the share of the working-age population employed in services remains low in many countries.
-
If policy makers wish to strengthen economic growth and improve the foundations for the future performance of OECD economies, the services sector will need to do better. But strengthening growth performance is not the only challenge; OECD countries are also confronted with the growing globalisation of services and manufacturing and with rapid technological change.
-
-
-
This chapter examines whether and how the benefits of services trade reform in seven services sectors are passed on to other sectors in the economy. The seven services sectors are: air passenger transport; banking; distribution services; electricity generation; maritime transport; professional services (engineering); and telecommunications.
-
This chapter seeks to determine how protection of services affects the effective protection of agricultural and manufacturing sectors using the most recent estimates of services barriers in telecommunication, banking, distribution, electricity, professional services, and air and maritime transport in selected developing and transition economies.
-
Improving innovative capabilities in the service sector is important to boosting overall economic performance. Service-sector firms in general are less likely to innovate than manufacturing firms, but they are becoming more innovative and knowledge-intensive, especially in business and financial intermediation services.
-
-
ICT-enabled co-ordination and digital delivery of services are major drivers of service-firm innovation, development and performance. Services’ use of e-business and digital delivery is increasing, and some service sectors are leading in buying and selling over the Internet and in more complex and integrated internal ICT applications that focus on customers and market networks to a greater extent than supply-chain and productionorientated applications common in manufacturing.
-