The service sector in the new globalization phase: Evidence from European regions

Abstract

The globalization of tasks rather than sectors, the off-shoring and outsourcing of service functions, de-industrialization in favour of services, and the decentralization of intertwined functions (manufacturing and related services) are reshaping the division of labour in the sub-national economies of advanced countries, and regional economies are increasingly competing to seize the opportunities which these new trends offer. All these changes affect the service sector in particular. This chapter aims at describing the role of the service sector in globalization processes in European regional economies. Economic trends in the service sector are associated to the degree of globalization processes in European regions and virtuous cycles of growth in regions open to globalization are compared with service sector specialization.