Book Description

The services sector now accounts for over 70% of employment and value added in OECD economies. It also accounts for almost all employment growth in the OECD area. But despite its growing weight in OECD economies, productivity growth and employment rates in services remain low in many OECD countries. To improve the basis for future economic growth and to address the rapid globalisation of OECD economies, the services sector will need to do better than is currently the case. But how can services performance be improved? And which factors and policies are the most important?This report provides an overview of the role of services in economic performance, and the factors that affect services sector performance. This includes the role of labour and product markets, the impact of barriers to trade in services, the role of innovation in services and the impacts of information and communications technology (ICT) on the services sector. The report also includes a paper presenting case studies of successful services firms, which help illustrate the broader analysis from OECD data.The report shows that services are indeed of growing importance to OECD economies, but that not all OECD economies have sufficiently adjusted their policies to seize greater benefits from the potential for growth and innovation in the services sector. Adjusting these polices will help in preparing OECD economies for a future characterised by an increasingly internationalised and competitive services sector.