The service sector in most advanced economies accounts for up to seventy percent of employment and GDP and, given its growing importance, has received much research attention over the last two decades. However, not very much attention has been paid to the relationship between this sector and both its territorial impact and regional effects. The main objective of this book is to offer a comprehensive approach to these aspects, focusing particularly on the location factors of service industries and the importance of some specific services, such as business services and knowledge and information services. The contributions have been prepared by well-known experts in the field from a wide number of countries. The focus of all contributions is not only on theoretical aspects, but also provides empirical analyses on specific countries and topics such as the geographical concentration, globalization impacts, foreign direct investments, and innovation.

The service sector in most advanced economies accounts for up to seventy percent of employment and GDP and, given its growing importance, has received much research attention over the last two decades. However, not very much attention has been paid to the relationship between this sector and both its territorial impact and regional effects. The main objective of this book is to offer a comprehensive approach to these aspects, focusing particularly on the location factors of service industries and the importance of some specific services, such as business services and knowledge and information services. The contributions have been prepared by well-known experts in the field from a wide number of countries. The focus of all contributions is not only on theoretical aspects, but also provides empirical analyses on specific countries and topics such as the geographical concentration, globalization impacts, foreign direct investments, and innovation.

Manufacturing-led development has provided the traditional model for creating jobs and prosperity. But in the past three decades the conventional pattern of structural transformation has changed, with the services sector growing faster than the manufacturing sector. This raises critical questions about the ability of developing economies to close productivity gaps with advanced economies and to create good jobs for more people. At Your Service? The Promise of Services-Led Development (www.worldbank.org/services-led-development) assesses the scope of a services-driven development model and policy directions that can maximize the model’s potential.

First published in 1985. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The first major synthesis of an emerging geography which is undoubtedly changing the way in which academics, planners and policy-makers identify and interpret the spatial development of cities and regions in the 1980s.