Trade in Services in the Asia-Pacific Region

In recent years the tremendous growth of the service sectorincluding international trade in serviceshas outstripped that of manufacturing in many industrialized nations. As the importance of services has grown, economists have begun to focus on policy issues raised by them and have tried to understand what, if any, differences there are between production and delivery of goods and services. This volume is the first book-length attempt to analyze trade in services in the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors provide overviews of basic issues involved in studying the service sector; investigate the impact of increasing trade in services on the economies of Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong; present detailed analyses of specific service sectors (telecommunications, financial services, international tourism, and accounting); and extend our understanding of trade in services beyond the usual concept (measured in balance of payment statistics) to include indirect services and services undertaken abroad by subsidiaries and affiliates.

Takatoshi Ito is professor of economics at the University of Tokyo and a research associate of the NBER and the Tokyo Center for Economic Research.

Anne O. Krueger is Arts and Sciences Professor of Economics at Duke University.