Growth in Services

Fostering Employment, Productivity

and Innovation
Meeting of the OECD Council
at Ministerial Level, 2005

At its meeting in May 2003, the Ministerial Council asked the OECD to analyse the
contribution made by the services sector to employment growth, productivity and
innovation, and to identify factors, institutions and policies that could enhance the
growth prospects of this sector. In response to this request, the OECD launched a study
involving the Economics Department (Economic Policy Committee), the Directorate for
Science, Technology and Industry (Committees for Information, Computer and
Communications Policy, Scientific and Technological Policy, Industry and Business
Environment), and the Trade Directorate (Trade Committee). The Center for Tax Policy
and Administration, the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, the
Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development, and the Directorate for
Education also made helpful contributions to the study.
This report draws the main policy conclusions from the project. It complements
the OECD report on Trade and Structural Adjustment, which provides policy
directions on how OECD countries can adjust to international trade. Together, these
reports present a concrete policy agenda on how to strengthen growth performance
and address globalisation, structural change and the shift to services. The findings
and policy implications of the work are summarised below.

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive Summary

T he 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 facing policy makers; OECD countries are also
confronted with the growing globalisation of services and manufacturing and with rapid
technological change. This has raised doubts about the capacity of OECD economies to create
new jobs, while at the same time offering new opportunities for international trade and
investment. Addressing these challenges and strengthening the potential of services to foster
employment, productivity and innovation will need to build on sound macroeconomic
fundamentals and involve a combination of structural policies. The OECD report on services
encourages policy makers to take action in the following areas:
● Open domestic services markets to create new job opportunities and foster innovation and
productivity. Further regulatory reform of services markets will create fresh opportunities for
firms to develop new services, meet emerging global demands and increase employment. It
will also increase the incentives for companies to innovate and improve productivity growth.
While much progress has been made in opening services markets, further steps are needed,
e.g. in reducing the degree of public ownership in competitive industries such as air
transport, in addressing anti-competitive practices in professional services, and in reducing
barriers to entrepreneurship.
● Take unilateral and multilateral steps to open international markets to trade and investment in
services. OECD work shows that the benefits of international trade and investment in
services are highly significant, for both OECD economies and developing countries. Policy
makers can take unilateral steps to open markets to international competition, for instance
by reducing barriers to foreign direct investment. At the same time, multilateral action is
needed to ensure a broad opening of markets and a wide distribution of the benefits. OECD
members should therefore seize the opportunities offered by the ongoing WTO Doha
negotiations to open their services markets.
● Reform labour markets to enable employment creation and adjustment to a growing services
economy. Effective labour and social policies are essential to help OECD economies adjust to
globalisation, structural change and the shift to services. To strengthen employment
creation in services, policy makers should address high labour taxes that affect the job
prospects for low-skilled workers and the development of personal services in OECD

2 GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

economies. Employment protection legislation should be reformed in countries where it is overly

strict, to help improve the capacity of these economies to create employment and enhance
productivity growth in services.
● Adapt education and training policies to rapidly changing requirements for new skills. Since most
services involve direct contact with customers, human resources are key to services sector
performance. Education policies are important to help workers adjust to globalisation and structural
change and should help provide the qualifications that are needed in services. However, they need
to be supplemented with actions, partnerships and co-financing by firms, workers and governments
to foster life-long learning. This will require improved incentives for private financing of life-long
learning and actions to ensure equitable access to formal and on-the-job learning.
● Adapt innovation policies to the growing importance of services innovation. Innovation policies remain
ill adapted to the growing importance of innovation in services, and to the new potential for product
and process innovation that is due to information and communications technology (ICT). Policy
makers should consider how existing public R&D can better address the needs of the services sector
and improve the links between services sector firms and public research. In modifying policies
related to intellectual property in services, governments will need to strike a careful balance
between innovation and the diffusion of service innovations to other industries.
● Remove impediments that prevent services firms from seizing the benefits of ICT. To seize the benefits
of ICT for services, governments should continue to encourage effective competition in ICT
infrastructure, network services and applications, notably for broadband. They will also need to
increase the trust in electronic business, e.g. by developing effective regulatory frameworks.
Regulatory barriers, e.g. to digital delivery and digital content, also require reform, as they are not
adapted to the new potential offered by electronic business. Moreover, governments can take action
themselves, by developing public services and digital content.
● Provide a fiscal environment which is conducive to the growth of services. Governments will need to avoid
that the interaction between the application of EU and non-EU value added taxes, as well as sales taxes,
leads to new tax barriers to cross border services. Tax treaties should be reviewed to avoid such activities
being subject to double taxation. Tax dispute settlement procedures should be accelerated and
reinforced, notably for cross border services and intangibles.
Reform of services sector policies provides an important opportunity for policy makers to
strengthen employment, productivity and innovation. It will also help in strengthening the capacity of
OECD economies to adjust to economic globalisation in services and to the growing importance of
services to future growth in OECD economies. The policies advocated in this report are mutually
reinforcing. This is important since seizing the new growth opportunities in the services sector and
adjusting to globalisation will be possible only through a comprehensive strategy based on a policy
mix that is suited to each country or circumstance.
With so many policy areas affecting the services sector, priorities are essential, however. Moving
quickly towards more open and competitive services markets, at both the national and international level,
is of the greatest importance to foster new employment opportunities and increase innovation and
technology diffusion. This also means providing more scope for entrepreneurs to explore the new business
opportunities in the services sector, in particular at the global level, and providing a fiscal environment
that is conducive to the growth of services. At the same time, improvements in the functioning of labour
markets and institutions are urgently needed to help OECD economies adjust to globalisation and the shift
to services. Education and training policies clearly have a key role in providing workers with the new skills
they will require in an increasingly global service economy. Also, much can be done to improve policies
related to innovation and ICT in services, as the combination of ICT and process innovation holds the key

GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

to generating more rapid innovation and productivity growth in the services sector. In all these areas, it
will also be important to account for the large diversity of the services sector and the resulting variety in
policy challenges and growth prospects.

4 GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005

 MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Introduction

The need for a stronger and more dynamic services sector arises The services sector
primarily from the growing weight of services in OECD economies. If policy is the key to stronger
makers wish to increase labour utilisation and productivity growth, the growth and employment
services sector will need to make a larger contribution than is currently the performance
case. The experience of several OECD countries shows that this is feasible; in
Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, the Slovak Republic and the United States,
the services sector has made a large contribution to both employment and
productivity growth over the past decade. Many of the jobs that have been
created involved high-skilled workers, in particular in finance, business
services, education and health. However, in several other OECD countries,
such as Italy, Korea, Poland and Spain, the contribution of the services sector
to employment rates remains limited (Figure 1), whereas in others, such as
France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, their contribution to productivity
growth has been low (Figure 2).

Figure 1. The services sector accounts for most of the variation in employment rates
across OECD countries
Share of the working-age population employed in goods and services,1 2002, percentages

% Services Goods
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Gr ic

th nd

ite dom

No es
Un De nds
m

Fin y

Ca d
Re ry

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ain

Au urg

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Sl H nd

K ark

ay
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ly

Po d

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l

Ge ce

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Be EU
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an
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lan

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at
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Sw stra
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la

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Ko
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la
Ne we
Lu Ja
lg

St
er
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ov un

Un ing
Fr

er
m

d
d

1. Covers all services, including community, social and personal services.

Source: OECD, STAN database and Labour Force Statistics.

This variation in the growth performance of the services sector can

partly be attributed to differences in policies and institutions; in many OECD
countries, policy makers will need to take further action to help seize the

GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005 5

MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Figure 2. Contribution of the services sector to productivity growth, 1990-20021

Contribution to growth of value added per person employed, percentage points

Total services Manufacturing and other industries

In percentage points
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0

ic
Be d

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ds

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1. Or latest available year.
Source: OECD STAN database.

potential for growth and innovation that has become increasingly apparent
in the services sector. Unleashing this potential, by a combination of
structural policies, can help create more employment, enhance productivity
and increase aggregate incomes.
But strengthening growth performance is not the only challenge. OECD
countries are also confronted with a growing globalisation of services and
rapid technological change, which has raised doubts about the capacity of
economies to create new jobs (Box 1). Addressing the globalisation challenge,
which is now affecting a large and growing part of the economy, raises new
questions about the ability of OECD economies to adjust to structural change,
an issue which is also addressed in the MCM paper on Trade and Structural
Adjustment.

The services sector – diverse, but facing common policy

challenges

Many services sectors The rapid employment growth in the services sector of several OECD
have experienced rapid countries over the past decade results primarily from the strong performance
employment growth, of certain market services, notably telecommunications, transport,
though only some have wholesale and retail trade, finance, insurance and business services. Over the
also experienced rapid past decade, these services accounted for around 60% of all employment
productivity growth created in the OECD area. Moreover, they are characterised by a growing use
of productivity-enhancing technologies, such as ICT, and accounted for the
bulk of labour productivity growth in Australia, Japan and the United States
over the past decade (Figure 2). Some of these services, notably
telecommunications and business services, have also been characterised by
a high level of business dynamics, as demonstrated by high rates of new firm

6 GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005

 MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Box 1. The globalisation of services

Among the main drivers of the strong performance of services sectors in recent years is the growing
importance of globalisation for many services. Part of the growing globalisation of services is increased
international sourcing of service inputs from abroad. This trend is relatively recent compared to the well-
established practice of offshoring parts of the production chain in manufacturing. It reflects changing
business models where companies source intermediate services from specialised firms – both at home and
abroad – as an alternative to in-house production. This development has been triggered by technological
advances, such as the development of broadband networks and the growing scope for digitisation of
services, and supported by regulatory reform and trade liberalisation in both OECD and developing
economies, as well as by the emergence of a global labour market of highly skilled workers. Such buying-in
of services is still largely a domestic affair, but is becoming more international.
Although there are no official statistics measuring the extent of international sourcing, estimates suggest
it will accelerate in most OECD countries in coming years. It generally involves functions which are easy for
companies to purchase from outside due to their intensive use of information technology and low need for
face-to-face contact; many such functions are no longer linked to a specific location. This includes work by
clerks and computer operators, data handlers and claims processors as well as programmers and certain
types of scientists and engineers, i.e. both high- and low-skilled white-collar jobs. OECD estimates place the
total number of jobs that could potentially be affected by domestic or global outsourcing at close to 20% of
employment in certain countries (Figure A1). Such international sourcing, however, is currently primarily
occurring in markets which are expanding in the OECD. The employment impacts have thus far been
limited compared to aggregate economic activity and normal job “churning”.
The direct benefits of international sourcing are currently accruing to a number of OECD countries
(e.g. Ireland, Czech Republic) and non-OECD countries (e.g. India) which have become highly competitive in
business services. Indirect benefits may be realised by other countries, due to lower costs and increased
productivity. Consumers may benefit directly from lower prices and indirectly from enhanced efficiency. In
this way, sourcing business services from lower-wage countries could reduce the prices of services as
diverse as finance, transportation and health. However, the gains and associated adjustment costs of
international sourcing may not be equally distributed across workers, industries and countries. More
competition in service markets will foster restructuring, which can be painful for affected individuals. In
countries with structural rigidities and poorly functioning labour markets, workers may have difficulties
finding new employment at equal or higher wages. This underlines the importance of structural reforms in
OECD countries (as outlined in this report and the Ministerial report on Trade and Structural Adjustment)
which can ease the adjustment process while fostering growth and innovation.

Figure A1. The share of occupations potentially affected by offshoring in total employment
EU-15, United States, Canada, and Australia 1995-2003/4,1 percentages

% EU-15 United States Canada Australia

20.0

19.5

19.0

18.5

18.0

17.5

17.0

16.5

16.0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
1. Includes OECD estimates. Due to differences in classifications, levels are not directly comparable.
Source: OECD estimates based on EU Labour Force Survey, US Current Population Survey, Statistics Canada and Australian Bureau
of Statistics.

GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005 7

MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

creation, rapid growth of successful new firms, and reallocation of resources

from declining to growing firms. The strong performance of these services is
not only important for their own sake; it also helps underpin growth in those
sectors, including manufacturing, that use services as an input.
Community, social and personal services, including health and
education, accounted for the remaining 40% of employment creation in the
OECD area. Some of these services, notably health and personal services are
faced with growing demand, due to factors such as the ageing of OECD
populations, changes in life styles, growing incomes and resulting demands
for quality, as well as the spread of health-improving technologies. These
services have thus far experienced little measurable productivity growth,
however. In some areas, this is because there are inherent limitations to
productivity growth. In other sectors, such as health, there is little doubt that
technological change has already had impacts on performance, but this has
not yet shown up in the – still inadequate – productivity measures.

All services can benefit The challenges and growth prospects for the services sector therefore
from a more dynamic differ across activities. They depend on the structural characteristics of
business environment and different services markets, including their potential for technological change
effective innovation and productivity growth, their current degree of regulation and inherent
policies scope for domestic and international competition, as well as the relative
roles of the public and private sectors in each activity. This diversity is
compounded by a large variation in the development of the services sector
across OECD countries, which is partly linked to differences in the demand
for services. Despite this diversity, two broad policy challenges can be
identified that are the key to fostering growth in services:
● How to foster a more dynamic and competitive business environment that
encourages services firms to enhance productivity, offer new services and
create new employment.
● How to complement such structural reforms with effective innovation and
technology diffusion policies that can overcome barriers to innovation and
technological change in the services sector.
In developing policies for the services sector, policy makers will also
need to consider carefully the rationale and efficiency of their efforts in these
two areas.

Improving the business environment for services

Competitive pressures on The strong growth of services in certain OECD countries results from a
services firms have combination of factors. Among the most important is the growth in
increased, spurring competitive pressure that has occurred over the past decades. Regulatory
greater uptake of reform of markets for transport, communication, finance and certain
technology, as well as business services, combined with a reduction in international barriers to
productivity and trade and investment in services, as well as the growing scope for
employment growth competition and international cross-border trade thanks to technological
change and the growing tradability of services, have opened up service
markets that were previously sheltered from competition. This has increased

8 GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005

 MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

the incentives for firms to increase efficiency through greater use of

advanced technologies, notably ICT, which has enabled innovation and
productivity growth in many services, and has also forced firms to make
greater efforts in introducing innovative products and processes throughout
the value chain. In countries where this process has advanced furthest, such
as Australia and the United States, the resulting boost to productivity has
contributed to lower prices and growing demand for service products, and to
strong employment creation in certain services sectors, notably business
services. The experience of these countries shows that employment and
productivity growth can go hand-in-hand.
The growth of competition in services sectors is important for another
reason; it fosters the growth and new entry of firms that are particularly
innovative and successful in meeting consumer demand. OECD economies
benefit if new and successful firms flourish and thrive, and if less successful
firms decline or close down. Firm-level evidence shows that successful and
innovative firms can be found in the services sector in all OECD countries
(Box 2), but the business environment in OECD countries is not equally
geared towards the creation and prosperity of such innovative firms in large
numbers. This is where policy can make a difference.

Reform regulations in services to enhance performance

and create new opportunities

A key element in improving the business environment is better Reform of regulations

regulation. A broad range of OECD work, including that carried out in the in the services sector
context of its work on regulatory reform, shows that the reform of regulatory is highly important
structures, e.g. regulations on entry or operations, is the key to creating new and has fewer adverse
opportunities in services sectors (Box 2). The current reform process is driven consequences
by a recognition that certain regulations may no longer be needed, than expected
e.g. because technological change has enabled competition in markets
t h a t we r e p r ev i o u s l y c o n s i d e r e d n a t u ra l m o n o p o l i e s , s u c h a s
telecommunications.
The evidence from OECD countries shows that well-designed reform of
regulations, and the opening of markets to competition, can be highly
beneficial. The liberalisation of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law in Japan in
the early 1990s, for example, resulted in higher labour productivity, lower
prices and higher retail employment, arguably boosting economy-wide GDP
by around 1%. In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, liberalisation of
shop opening-hours in the mid-1990s led to a significant increase in
employment and a sharp increase in value added. Similarly, regulatory
reform in air passenger transportation and road freight has been associated
with substantial welfare gains in the form of lower prices, new services and
higher productivity.
The experience with regulatory reform also suggests that the feared
adverse effects of liberalisation often do not materialise. Regulatory reform in
air and road transport has not led to a decline in safety levels or to a decline
of air services to remote communities. Moreover, the experience in

GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005 9

MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Box 2. Determinants of success in services – some findings from case studies

The success of certain well-known services firms can illustrate the analysis in this paper. OECD case
studies of some international services firms show that a number of factors are common to their success:
1. Open markets. Many successful services companies examined owe their existence and success to the
opening up of markets. Several of the most successful airline companies (e.g. Southwest Airlines and
EasyJet) in recent years would not have existed if formal entry barriers to airline markets had not been
removed. Many other successful services companies were able to expand into new markets thanks to
regulatory reforms (e.g. AXA into pension funds; Endemol into foreign TV markets). In certain other cases,
e.g. Carrefour, the threat of foreign competition and the ability to expand in international markets thanks
to open borders acted as a powerful incentive to grow, expand internationally and raise productivity.
2. Innovation and ICT. The opening up of markets may enable new entrants to take another step towards
success, i.e. in doing something completely new and different. Such innovation – either in terms of
processes or products – helps firms to differentiate themselves from other, often more traditional firms.
Examples are the development by FedEx of a hub-and-spoke model for overnight package delivery or the
development by Southwest of a business model for passenger transportation at low cost. The strong focus
on innovation is often associated with an important role for venture or risk capital, e.g. in companies such
as eBay and JetBlue. In many cases, successful services firms were also pioneers in introducing ICT and
developing applications, such as airline reservations without physical sales points, interactive TV
(Endemol) or digital tracking of packages (FedEx). The innovations pioneered by such firms often lead to
additional productivity effects, due to the entry of other firms and responses by incumbent firms.
3. Work organisation and human resources. Firm case studies also highlight the importance of factors
internal to a firm, notably the organisation of work, the motivation and skills of workers, and the company
culture. These factors differ considerably across firms, but may include the decentralisation of
responsibilities and flat hierarchies, compensation according to performance or compensation aimed at
achieving worker loyalty (e.g. through profit sharing or stock options). Together, these features may lead to
a high-skill, high-trust environment that underscores the key role of human resources for services sector
performance.
On the whole, the case studies confirm that policies to establish an open and competitive business
environment are, without doubt, the key requirement for improved performance in the services sector. Policies
(or lack of them) related to innovation, ICT, work organisation or human resources, were considered important
for company success in some cases, but almost always in a context of open and contestable markets.

telecommunications suggests that the introduction of competition and cost-

reflecting tariff structures can go hand-in-hand with the fulfilment of
universal service obligations. Experiences with regulatory reform of
electricity and railways have been mixed, however. On the whole, the
evidence suggests that well-designed regulatory reform can improve
performance in specific sectors without creating significant long-term
adverse effects. Moreover, whenever adverse consequences do occur,
e.g. disruptions in service or lowering of quality standards, policy makers
should continue to evaluate how these can be addressed and avoided in
future reform efforts.

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 MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Much progress has been made over the past decade in reducing the Differences in the state
degree of regulation in OECD services sectors. However, despite such of regulation across OECD
progress, high levels of product market regulation continue to stifle growth countries point to an
and innovation, notably in many European countries (Figure 3). Further unfinished reform agenda
regulatory reform should be complemented by strong competition policy, as
this can help ensure that effective competition develops in liberalised sectors
of the economy. Moreover, further regulatory changes need to be supported
by institutional reforms, to ensure that the regulatory system is effective in
making markets work. This includes better use of alternatives to regulation,
impact analysis, stakeholder consultation, and well-designed and
adequately supported institutions and regulatory bodies.

Figure 3. Product market regulation in OECD countries, 20031

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0
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Gr lic
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ng
ite us

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Cz
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1. The scale of indicators is 0-6 from least to most restrictive.

Source: OECD, Product Market Regulation Database, March 2005.

Peer reviews in the OECD have recommended that anti-competitive

regulations in service markets be reviewed in many countries. This includes
re-evaluating the role of public ownership in most EU countries, notably in
inherently competitive industries like air and bus transport and financial
services. It also includes reconsidering restrictions on large-scale retail
outlets (e.g. in several Asian and European countries), as well as regulations
on price setting. Moreover, regulations permitting anti-competitive practices
in professional services, e.g. those allowing professional associations to
regulate entry, conduct and prices, should be carefully re-examined.
Reforming such regulations, notably those particularly affecting foreign
providers, might also provide scope for international competition.

Fostering entrepreneurship and the creation and growth of new firms Policy can help foster
are also important for employment creation. Moreover, innovation and new firm creation
growth of services often requires that firms can experiment in the market and entrepreneurship
with new products, processes and business models. Allowing scope for

GROWTH IN SERVICES – FOSTERING EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION – © OECD 2005 11

MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

experimentation may allow new ideas and innovations to appear more

rapidly, benefiting growth and technology diffusion. There is much scope for
action in this area; OECD estimates show that barriers to firm creation
remain prevalent in many countries (Figure 4). OECD peer reviews have
recommended to several countries, notably in Europe, to reduce regulatory
barriers to business start-ups and to reduce compliance costs, especially for
small businesses. The OECD’s Istanbul Declaration of June 2004 points to a
range of other policy measures that can be taken to enhance the level of
entrepreneurship.

Figure 4. Barriers to entrepreneurship, 20031

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0
m lic

M lic
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Sp
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nm

Sw Ko
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pu
bo

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a
l

lg

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n
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1. The scale of indicators is 0-6 from least to most restrictive.

Source: OECD, Product Market Regulation Database, March 2005.

Governments can make a Several important services, such as health, education and social
direct contribution to services, are often provided in a non-market environment, although with
better services sector considerable variation across countries. The absence of a price mechanism
performance by improving implies that it is difficult for the – often non-profit – providers of these
public services services to gauge demand, which is sometimes reinforced by the absence of
competition between providers and reliance on public funding. As a result of
this environment, producers may have difficulties in responding adequately
to evolving users needs, such as the growing demand for long-term health
care. Suitable policy measures, which could be explored in several public
services, include the opening up of markets to private providers, the
introduction of user choice, linking public funding more closely to
performance as well as user payments. While such measures may not be
suitable for all public services, for example, because they conflict with
fundamental equity objectives, such policy changes may contribute to better
and more targeted services in several areas, and may help enhance efficiency
while also achieving key public policy objectives.

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National and international efforts are needed to open

markets to international trade in services

The potentially beneficial impacts of regulatory reform in domestic Growing international

services markets are compounded by the growing scope for international trade in services offers the
competition in services. International trade and investment in services is prospect of large economic
growing steadily and technological change, such as the integration of value benefits
chains thanks to ICT and the growing scope for digital delivery, is opening
new services markets to the potential of international trade and competition
(Box 1). While there are concerns about the structural adjustment associated
with international trade, as discussed in the paper on Trade and Structural
Adjustment for the 2005 OECD Ministerial, the overall benefits of
international trade and investment are clearly highly significant.
International trade can help countries in strengthening their respective
comparative advantage in services. Moreover, the stronger competition
associated with international trade can reduce costs and prices, increase
efficiency and innovation, and broaden the range of services being offered. It
can also reduce the fragmentation of services markets. Recent OECD work
demonstrates that the growth of trade in services benefits both developed
and developing countries. In addition, a reduction in trade barriers for
services also benefits goods- and services-producing industries that use
services in the production process.

However, while the potential for trade in services has grown Barriers to trade
substantially, notably in certain business services, the trade to value added in services persist
ratio of the services sector remains quite low compared to that of the goods-
producing sector (Figure 5), and services trade accounts for only about 20% of
total OECD trade. This is not only because services are still more difficult to
trade internationally than goods, but also results from the policy
environment for trade in services, which has not kept pace with the growing
potential for such trade.
Trade in services can occur in several ways, and the General Agreement
on Trade in Services (GATS) distinguishes four different modes of services
delivery; cross-border trade, consumption abroad, commercial presence and
movement of natural persons. Each of these modes of trade is affected by
rules and regulations. For example, market access through cross-border trade
may be restricted through rules stipulating that commercial presence or
residency in the country is required. Regulations in services markets, as
discussed above, may also limit international trade, in particular when they
discriminate between domestic and foreign firms. Most OECD countries also
have specific restrictions on foreign direct investment, such as limits on the
amount of foreign equity or screening and approval rules. Services trade
involving the temporary movement of natural persons to provide a service in
another country is also affected by rules, e.g. limitations on the number of
persons that may be temporarily employed in a particular sector.

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MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Figure 5. Trade in services remains under-developed compared to trade in goods

Trade to value added ratios of the services- and goods-producing sectors,1 2002, percentages

% Services-producing sectors Goods-producing sectors

300

250

200

150

100

50

Gr 9 2
Sp c

ite or ic

De ourg
itz nd
EU m
Ja s

No ds
Re ny

S and
Cz C ary

em ria
ain

th en

-L Au ay

Ic rk
Ire d
St o

Fr ia

Fin ea
ov er d

Ne O e
Au ly

d
Po n

ng l
Hu ce

Re ada

Ze D
Ki a
i
e

n
ite xic

lan

Sl G lan

lan
pa

bl

Un P ubl

w EC
l
Ita

d tug
do

a
at

-1

rw
ra

ee
an

lan
ak ma

Ne wed
Sw ala

ux st

ela
ng

nm
Ko
pu
ec an

l
Un Me

er
st

b
p

er
d

m
iu
lg
Be
1. Average of exports and imports of goods and services as a share of value added in the goods- and services-producing sectors. The
goods-producing sector includes agriculture, mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water; the services-producing sector covers
all other industries.
2. Includes intra-EU trade; EU-19 refers to all EU countries that are also members of the OECD.
Source: IMF, Balance of Payments Statistics, OECD, STAN database and Annual National Accounts database.

Countries should take For many of these measures affecting trade in services, countries can
unilateral and multilateral take unilateral steps to change the rules and open their economy to
action to draw greater international trade. OECD work demonstrates that autonomous liberalisation
benefits from trade in in many services markets can be highly beneficial to the country taking such
services steps, in both OECD and developing economies, and generally exceeds the
benefits from reform in agriculture or manufacturing. The potential gains
may be particularly large in sectors such as distribution and business
services, where trade barriers typically tend to drive up costs, but are also
important in sectors such as banking and telecommunications. Countries
should therefore not feel obliged to wait for progress in multilateral forums;
they can take action immediately.
Certain measures affecting trade in services, e.g. those related to
occupational licensing, may require co-operation between countries, however.
Multilateral action can also ensure a broadening of the opening of services
markets across countries, sectors and modes, resulting in a wider distribution
of the benefits. By ensuring that measures taken by partner countries are
binding and reciprocal, multilateral action can assist in providing the
transparency and predictability sought by globally mobile service companies.
Progress in international trade negotiations is therefore also needed. OECD
Members should seize the opportunity provided by the ongoing WTO Doha
negotiations to open their services markets. They should submit initial and
revised GATS offers by the agreed deadline and intensify their efforts to
conclude parallel negotiations on rule-making under the GATS.

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Labour markets require reform to create new employment

opportunities in services

Policies and institutional arrangements linked to the labour market may Inappropriate labour
also hold back the creation of new services. OECD work shows that there is a and social policies may
strong relationship between services sector employment and overall hold back the adjustment
employment rates (Figure 2). Moreover, countries with a high share of the of OECD countries
population employed in services tend to have the highest participation of to a services economy
women in the labour market (Figure 6). The growth of services is the key to
enhancing labour force participation, notably by providing the kind of jobs
that are needed to attract new worker groups (e.g. part-time, evening, night as
well as low-skilled workers). At the same time, high labour force participation
may give an impetus to the development of the services sector.

Figure 6. High employment in services goes hand-in-hand with high employment for women
Employment/population ratios in services and for women, 2002, percentages

Employment/population ratio for women aged 15-64 (%)

75
Sweden Norway
Switzerland Denmark
70
Finland Canada United Kingdom
65 United States
Australia New
Austria Zealand
Portugal
60
Germany
Ireland Japan Netherlands
55 France
Slovak Republic Korea
Luxembourg
50 Belgium
Hungary
Poland Spain
45 Greece
Italy
40
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Employment/population ratio in services, persons aged 15-64 (%)

Source: OECD, STAN database and Labour Force Statistics.

Labour market institutions play an important role in helping countries

adjust to structural change, as discussed in the Ministerial paper on Trade
and Structural Adjustment. Unemployment and related benefits should
promote job-search, rather than providing passive support and thus slowing
down adjustment to structural change. Effective re-employment services and
schemes that make work pay can make it easier for displaced workers to find
new jobs in growing parts of the economy. A wage setting system capable of
providing appropriate price signals also helps facilitate structural
adjustment. Flexibility in relative wages is particularly important, as it
provides incentives for workers to react to structural changes that require
them to change industry, to move to another region and to invest in training.
Similarly, relatively high statutory or bargained minimum wages may hold
back the development of low productive service activities. The OECD Jobs

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MEETING OF THE OECD COUNCIL AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 2005

Study, which is currently in the process of being reassessed for the

2006 Ministerial Council Meeting, points to a range of policy measures that
can be taken to address these issues and help the labour market adjust to
structural change.

Overly strict employment Labour market institutions may also directly affect the services sector.
protection legislation may For example, overly strict employment protection legislation (EPL) may limit
slow down adjustment the development of services sector activities that are subject to large
and affect certain services variations in demand, such as tourism and certain producer services, which
can slow down the shift to services. Overly strict EPL may also have adverse
effects on labour mobility and productivity growth by reducing the capacity
of firms’ to reorganise, experiment with new ideas or implement new
technologies. This could reduce the growth of new jobs, thus hampering the
re-integration of displaced workers. An easing of EPL has been recommended
for several countries in OECD peer reviews, with the aim of finding an
appropriate balance between worker’s need for protection and economies’
capacity to adjust and create new jobs.

High labour taxes may Developments in services sectors may also be obstructed by high labour
limit the expansion of taxes or by indirect taxes. Labour taxes create a wedge between private and
personal services social returns on work and between do-it-yourself or informal work and
market-based deliveries. High labour taxes may thus lower labour supply and
encourage in-house or informal production. The personal services sector is
likely to be most effected by high tax rates, as it relies disproportionately on
workers with elastic labour supply (e.g. low-skilled workers and second
income earners). Moreover, in-house or informal production of these services
is often a viable alternative.
Addressing the tax burden may provide more jobs for low-skilled
workers and would thus help facilitate labour market participation. Policy
makers have several options; they can, for instance, lower labour taxes or
reduce taxes on specific income groups that are particularly affected, such as
low incomes or second income earners. They may also consider employment
subsidies or other make-work-pay policies, which have proven effective in
certain cases. Several countries have recently also introduced tax credits or
subsidies for households employing domestic workers. Family-friendly
policies, e.g. better access to child-care facilities or more flexible working
time arrangements, are also important; they can help enhance labour force
participation in the services sector, notably of women, and may have the
additional effect of creating new services to help reconcile work and family
life, e.g. in child care centres. The OECD peer reviews have provided
recommendations to several OECD countries in these areas. The budgetary
costs and possible distortionary effects of these policies must be
acknowledged, however, and traded off against their potential benefits in
enhancing labour market participation.

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The shift towards a service economy may also require changes to human The services economy will
resource and educational policies, as service firms may require skills that are require changing worker
currently in short supply, e.g. those required for specific trades or sectors, skills and organisational
such as tourism, or for specific needs, such as ICT or innovation. Human structures
resources are of great importance to services, as services delivery typically
requires close interaction with customers. Many services sectors, for
example, heavily rely on both ICT specialists and qualified ICT users.
Moreover, services firms regard training as a key element of their innovation
efforts. Having a good supply of qualified personnel is important, since many
services sectors require highly-skilled workers, but education policies need
to be supplemented with actions and co-financing by firms, workers and
governments to foster life-long learning. Best policy practices to foster new
(services) skills need to be developed, e.g. on improving the incentives for
private financing of life-long learning and on ensuring equitable access to
both formal and on-the-job learning. The development of quality certificates
(e.g. of professional qualifications) and skills accreditation mechanisms are
also important.
Stronger performance of services companies also often requires
organisational change, as shown in Box 2. While organisational change is
primarily a task for firms, governments can help reduce obstacles to
workplace changes, e.g. by diffusing information on good practices widely.
This may also require greater employee involvement in workplace change
and ensuring that working time legislation and employment regulations
support organisational innovation.

Removing tax obstacles to the expansion of the service sector

Governments will also need to re-examine potential tax barriers to cross Cross-border trade
border services and intangibles. A recent OECD survey shows that the in services raises difficult
interaction of EU and non-EU VAT systems and sales taxes may lead to issues for tax policy
unintentional double taxation. This is partially because there is no OECD-wide
agreement on the application of basic consumption tax concepts that apply to
the service sector (e.g. place of consumption of services) and no generally
agreed principles to guide governments. The OECD has recently launched a
study to examine how greater coherence can be achieved in this area.
A significant number of cross border services are provided by one part of a
multinational group to another part. This raises difficult issues as to how the tax
base associated with the services should be allocated between the countries in
which the group operates. The OECD 1995 Transfer Pricing Guidelines provide
guidance for governments and business on how to resolve these issues.
Despite the guidance provided in the OECD Model Tax Convention, tax
disputes will arise between countries as to how to allocate the income
associated with cross border services and intangibles. Such disputes are
currently dealt with under the Mutual Agreement Procedures (MAP) of the
OECD Model Convention. However, the number and complexity of cases
giving rise to tax disputes is increasing, which can act as a barrier to the
development of the service sector. OECD has recently launched a project to

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improve the MAP and to examine supplementary dispute procedures,

including arbitration.

Adapting innovation policies to the growth of services

Improving the business While a more dynamic business environment for services firms,
environment may not be including greater openness to international competition, should do much to
enough to stimulate encourage greater uptake of advanced technologies and foster innovative
services-sector innovation activities, additional efforts may also be needed. As shown in recent OECD
work on benchmarking, innovation in knowledge-based economies
increasingly depends on the combination of entrepreneurship, ICT,
innovation and human capital. ICT is particularly important for services
sector innovation, as it is enabling firms in a wide variety of services
industries to engage in process innovations throughout the value chain,
develop new applications, and raise productivity. However, despite a high
degree of innovation in the services sector, notably in financial and business
services, innovation policies have thus far focused primarily on the
manufacturing sector. Services firms face several barriers to innovation,
however, some of which may be susceptible to policy action (Figure 7). While

Figure 7. Services firms face several barriers to innovation

Percentage of European firms identifying a factor as highly relevant, as a share of all firms expressing relevance, 1998-2000

%
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Lack of Innovation Economic Lack of Lack of Org. Lack of Regulatory Lack of
financing costs risks personnel market info. rigidities tech. info. constraints response

Economic factors Internal factors Other factors

Source: OECD, based on Eurostat, Third Community Innovation Survey, 2004.

few OECD countries currently have policies specifically aimed at fostering

innovation in services, the experience of countries such as Denmark, Finland
and Norway, that have recently launched new initiatives, may help develop
good policy practices.

Public R&D should more The financing of innovation remains an important barrier for services
explicitly address services firms, perhaps more so than for manufacturing firms. This is partly because
sector needs firms in certain service industries, such as business services, are quite small,
which typically implies more restricted access to private financing.

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Well-developed and regulated financial markets are crucial to improve access

to private finance. At the same time, there are good reasons to expect that
private firms may sometimes invest less in innovation than would be socially
desirable. Governments may therefore look to provide support, e.g. through
tax credits or grants schemes. Such schemes are well established in most
OECD countries. However, most services firms spend little on formal R&D, but
innovate through deployment of new technology, notably ICT, training and
investment in intangible assets, e.g. design, marketing or organisational
change. These intangible investments are typically poorly reflected in
business accounts, which may limit the access of service firms to financial
markets and may also make it difficult to benefit from government support,
e.g. R&D tax credits. Work to address this issue, including how to account for
intangible assets, is currently underway at OECD and will be reported to the
2006 Ministerial.
Public spending on basic R&D, in both public laboratories and
universities, does not typically address the long-term knowledge
requirements for services, e.g. in improving the understanding of how
technology should be deployed and used or of how people work in groups.
Developing such long-term research needs would benefit from a greater
involvement of services firms in the formulation and implementation of
research. Funding for long-term research should be allocated by competitive
procedures, with scientific excellence, relevance and merit as the main
conditions. Partnerships between the public and private sector, competitive
funding mechanisms, and regular evaluation of support are some ways to
make such research effective.

Since co-operation between firms is of growing relevance to innovation, Technology diffusion

policy should also aim to improve networks between services firms and policies need
within the economy-wide innovation system. It is also important to broaden to be broadened
technology diffusion policies, as these sometimes focused on manufacturing
firms. Stronger links to public research institutions could improve the
innovative capabilities of service firms and the relevance of public research to
service needs.

Intellectual property rights are of limited but growing importance to IPR plays a limited,
innovation in services – especially in knowledge intensive business services but growing role
like software, computing, R&D services and communications. Services firms
typically do not regard weak protection of intellectual property as a major
barrier to innovation; they rely more on secrecy and lead time to protect their
competitive advantage. Nevertheless, IPR could become more important as
competition increases and market fragmentation declines; already the
number of patents filed by innovative services firms has grown. In some
OECD countries, patent protection has been extended to service-related
inventions, such as software and business methods, creating differences in
the international treatment of such inventions and leading to concerns about
the balance between innovation and technology diffusion. Greater
harmonisation could reduce uncertainty for patent holders, but policy

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makers should be aware that changes in the patentability of software and

business methods often have implications on innovation in other industries.
Ensuring that the patent system continues to serve its dual role of providing
incentives to invention and facilitating technology diffusion will require
continued vigilance by policy makers.
Another important barrier to innovation that may require action relates
to standards. The quality of a service can often only be judged when it is
being consumed. National and international services standards may help
improve the quality of services, may help consumers in making an informed
choice between different services, and can also increase market transparency
and competition. They may also help establish larger and sufficiently
integrated markets. Standards are usually best developed by business, but
governments can provide frameworks to facilitate co-operation and
information exchange.

Seizing the benefits from ICT in services

Further efforts are needed Governments can also help firms in seizing greater benefits from ICT.
to seize the benefits of OECD work has shown that much of the services sector is being transformed
information and by ICT. ICT-related changes are closely integrated with other factors
communications identified in the OECD work on benchmarking, e.g. entrepreneurship,
technology in the services innovation, human capital and organisational change. ICT can help services
sector firms to introduce new business models, develop new applications, improve
and re-invent business processes, enhance customer services and raise
efficiency throughout the value chain. However, despite increased ICT use,
the uptake and integration of more sophisticated electronic business
applications remains relatively limited (Figure 8). While a sophisticated use
of ICT may not be required in all firms, inappropriate rules and regulations
may also contribute to the lack of integration.

Figure 8. High business connectivity but low e-commerce adoption, 2003 or most recent year
Percentage of all firms

Use the Internet Purchase products online

% Receive orders online Have sold products over the Internet
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Canada Spain Norway Austria Belgium Sweden Denmark Finland

Source: OECD Information Technology Outlook 2004.

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While ICT has already spread widely in many OECD countries, the
development of efficient, low-cost and broadly diffused networks remains a
high priority. This will require continued efforts to improve competitive
conditions for telecommunication services. Broadband networks are
particularly important, as they offer new opportunities for many services,
including health, education and government. As set out in the OECD Council
Recommendation on Broadband Development, government policy needs to
encourage effective competition and continued lib eralisation in
infrastructure, network services and applications to foster broadband
networks. It also needs to maintain transparent, technologically neutral and
non-discriminatory market policies that encourage R&D and investment in
new technological infrastructure, content and applications.

Further efforts will also be required to develop regulatory frameworks Regulatory barriers
and technological solutions (e.g. certification, authentication) that can enable impede electronic business
electronic business and the digital delivery of services, e.g. health, financial and digital delivery
services, tourism, distribution or logistics, and that foster a “culture of of services
security”. In many OECD countries, surveys show that privacy and security
concerns remain among the key barriers to ICT use. Much work is currently
underway at the OECD and elsewhere to develop and adopt information
security strategies to ensure that users have sufficient trust in using network
services and applications. An important challenge is to ensure the adherence
to regulatory frameworks and the effective enforcement of privacy and
consumer protection. Achieving these goals will require strong cross-border
co-operation between all stakeholders.
Regulations and administrative rules, often dating from a time that
electronic business and digital delivery were not yet an option, may also
affect the ability of firms to develop ICT services or deliver services through
digital means. For example, the regulatory treatment of physical and non-
physical products often differs, and insurance and payment schemes are
often ill adapted to the digital delivery of healthcare. Similar regulatory
barriers exist in many other services where electronic business and digital
delivery have become possible.

The development of digital content and services, thanks to the diffusion Further consideration
of high-speed broadband, also raises new challenges. Policies in this field should be given to policies
should ideally focus on removing obstacles for firms entering this market that can foster electronic
and addressing regulatory challenges in the field of intellectual property, content
digital rights management and inter-operability. The development of content
and related services will require regulatory frameworks that carefully
balance the interests of suppliers and users, e.g. as regards the protection of
intellectual property and the management of digital rights. Such regulatory
frameworks should be sufficiently flexible and not disadvantage innovative
business models.
Governments can also take action themselves. Developing public
services and digital content, e.g. providing public information, collecting
taxes or procuring goods and services on line, fostering e-health and

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e-education can help increase government efficiency and transparency and

enhance access to public services, while having the additional benefit of
fostering use and building public confidence.

Conclusions
A well-functioning services sector is key to the overall economic
performance of OECD countries and to the welfare of its citizens. Reform of
services sector policies provides an important opportunity for policy makers
to strengthen employment, productivity and innovation. It will also help in
strengthening the capacity of OECD economies to adjust to economic
globalisation in services and to the growing importance of services for the
future growth of OECD economies. The policies outlined in this report can
contribute to such reform and are mutually reinforcing. This is important
since seizing the new growth opportunities in the services sector will be
possible only through a comprehensive strategy based on a policy mix that is
suited to each country or circumstance.
Several OECD countries have already undertaken reforms and have
achieved stronger growth performance in services. This has resulted in more
jobs, stronger productivity growth and higher incomes. Moreover, a more
productive services sector also underpins better performance of other
sectors, notably the manufacturing sector, as this increasingly relies on
support and inputs from efficient and cost-effective producer services. While
not all services sectors have expanded and some have declined in size, the
overall impacts of reform have been very positive.
E nha nc ing the per forma nc e of ser vices will require fur th er
consideration by policy makers. In areas where best policy practices are still
being developed, it is important that governments tread carefully and avoid
actions that could harm service sector growth. Moreover, further
improvements in the knowledge and statistics about the drivers of
performance in different services sectors would help in developing,
monitoring and evaluating suitable policies for the services sector.

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