Conclusions: trends and ways forward in services-driven economic growth

This book has highlighted a number of recent dynamics in the service sector. It started by arguing how services have transformed from a residual category of economic output to a dynamic sector that is the world’s largest generator of added value and jobs. Case studies from different parts of the world were subsequently presented to underline how services play a role in providing new employment opportunities, are the most significant source of inward investment for many countries, and have become increasingly tradeable over a long distance. This final chapter brings together and reflects upon the theoretical and empirical insights from the case studies. The three tenets by Ghani and O’Connell (2014) that were introduced in Chapter 1 are used to structure the discussion in the first part of this final chapter.