Services in Economic Thought

The growth of the services sector has transformed developed societies, their economic characteristics, their occupational structures, and even their political priorities and value systems. No comprehensive theory of this growth exists, but for three centuries a number of major economists and social scientists have sought to analyze and explain its characteristics, dimensions and consequences. This book surveys and evaluates these theoretical contributions on services growth, from the mercantilists and classicists to contemporary works, those beginning with Fisher, Clark and Fourasite, and further developed by Fuchs, Bell, Baumol, Stanback, and Gershuny among others. Throughout this critical survey the major issues raised by the ongoing development of the services are pointed out: are services a new engine for economic growth or "nonproductive" deadweights?; how should services be classified in order to better understand their social functions?; what about their productivity and possible industrialization?; and are services the basis for new social and human relationships?This book helps to shed theoretical light on these current controversies, which are among the most important at the present stage of our economic development.