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Service industries in the world economy
Book reviews
The issue of commitment, perception and interpretation is discussed, again based on survey results in the UK. In this respect, the UK heritage visitor might be different from the average heritage visitor, taking into account the longer tradition and the organizational structure of heritage conservation (eg membership of the National Trust). The results that reveal tourist satisfaction with on-site and off-site presentational media are most useful in view of new developments and projects (Chapter 9). In an era that emphasizes customer satisfaction, the importance that visitors attach to the different media is an important of failure or success. indicator Comments on this issue are based on the analysis of self-rated attention paid by tourists to the different media types. The author concludes that the starting point for evaluating the effectiveness of promotional media at heritage attractions should be the recognition that many tourists are only generally interested in a particular site. and that measures of satisfaction are of little analytical use other than for managerial purposes. The inclusion of Chapter 10. dealing with the learning process of the tourist and the benefits that tourists gain from their visit to a heritage attraction, informs the reader about some methodological problems, and goes into considerable detail about the questionnaire and the answers, but lacks a more general interpretation or relevance to a broader discussion. The final chapter attempts a marketing approach to the different described analysed issues and before, which is intended to set the heritage product in a wider context of the tourism market. The recommendations for marketing and management of historical heritage sites are not the strongest side of this book. Despite some critical notes in the comment, this publication above surely holds some major merits. In the 196
first place there is the way in which the author systematically reveals the complex relationship between heritage and tourism. In each aspect of this analysis he indicates his views on priorities for the future research agenda, which is a perfect way to make a balance of the ‘state of the art’ in this field of tourism research: lack of knowledge about the benefits as experienced by the tourist when visiting a heritage site, on the one hand, and on the other hand the effectiveness of the different marketing instruments. The most important merit of this publication and therefore recommendation to read it is its function as a source of inspiration and reference for many researchers now exploring this so-called new area of interest in tourism. Myriam Jansen-Verbeke Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Service Industries Economy
in
the
World
P W Daniels Blackwell, Oxford (1993) 210 pp f11.99 ISBN 0 63117703 5
Peter Daniels’ latest book is one of a series sponsored by the Institute of British Geographers to provide undergraduate texts that critically summarize developments in various fields of geography. It is timely in two ways. First, although studies of services increasingly feature in courses on economic geography, as well as in economics, planning and business studies, we still lack accessible summary texts that address the diversity of service functions. Also, even for services it has become evident over the past decade that the global context of change needs to be clearly understood. This book is, perhaps inevitably, less satisfactory in fulfilling the first of these needs than the second, which is its special focus. With the exception of two short excursions into retail internationalization and changing international consumer service requirements and expectations, there is little explicit treatment of consumer or public
services and, more surprisingly, none of tourism. The approach is basically empirical, offering a commentary on measurable trends and observed corporate activity in the service sector. This creates some problems, not simply because of widely acknowledged service data difficulties, but also as a consequence of the predominantly service ‘production’ perspective that emerges. Although he reviews a range of literature, Daniels is also indecisive, and sometimes contradictory, in presenting alternative conceptual approaches to service analysis. For example, should students really still be encouraged to believe that there is a separately definable service sector? Sector/stage theories are rehearsed in Chapter 1, with their limitations, but alternative perspectives (Castells. Cohen and Zysman) are mentioned only in passing. Nevertheless, in the final chapter, where the merits of socalled ‘service-dominated economies’ are discussed, he emphasizes the close of services with interdependence other sectors. Nowhere, however, is a clear summary presented of the significance for service employment growth of wider processes affecting the division of labour, as argued for example by Sayer and Walker. A similar indecisiveness affects the treatment of the relationship between service productivity and employment change. Daniels generally seems to favour low-productivity explanations for service growth compared with manufacturing (especially in dealing with international competitiveness on p 173) and only briefly mentions the many doubts and qualifications expressed about them. More should have been said about: (1)
(2)
(3)
the diversity of service productivity experience (ranging, in Baumol’s terms, from ‘stagnant’ labour-intensive to ‘progressive’ capital-intensive services); widespread failure to the measure the quality, and therefore the value to recipients, of many services; and, especially the dependence of productivity improvements in manufacturing on more labour-intensive service inputs.
Book reviews
I suspect that Dorothy Riddle, whose much quoted arguments are elsewhere, would not approve of this neglect of the real productivity contribution of services. These debates, both of which are about the role of service functions in relation to other activities, are important for students to understand if they are to move their thinking beyond the conventional obsession with services versus manufacturing activities, and with activity classifications that are universally condemned as inadequate. These dissatisfactions arise largely from Chapter 1, a collection of ‘factual and theoretical perspectives’. although by their nature they pervade the rest of the book. Its positive qualities emerge more clearly later, as the focus shifts to international trade, mainly in financial and business services, and its implications for urban development. The approach nevertheless remains somewhat episodic, summarizing diverse, mainly empirical material. Chapter 2 perhaps suffers most from this disjointedness, reviewing the causes for growing service tradability. There are summary discussions of relevant developments in information technology. transportation, and service multinationals, including three UK case studies. Some attempt is made at general explanation, based on Dunning’s eclectic approach. and Vandermerwe and Chadwick’s analysis of modes of international service delivery. The most useful section here is on government influences on service trade. and barriers to it, exemplified by the Single Market proposals for the European Community. and the 1988 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. Chapter 3 is the core of this part of the book. on ‘International trade and foreign direct investment in services’. This is detailed and informative, outlining patterns and trends in service trade, including measurement problems. and the nature of service Parallel comparative advantage. developments in service FDI are also reviewed. After some discussion of the implications for developing countries and Eastern Europe/former CIS. there is a concise but clear summary of the issues faced by the
GATT in liberalizing global service trade. The last two substantive chapters bring information together on the significance of international service exchange for the global urban system. Why do high-level services concentrate in, and define world cities? In particular, what have been the key developments in the financial service sector? Then attention is directed to consequent changes in the internal structures of these cities, including employment patterns, urban property markets, and changing patterns of service location. Although drawing on a range of examples, the most detailed discussion is based on London, including the problems of the Docklands Canary Wharf development. Much of this material is already quite accessible. but it is valuable for students to have preliminary access to it in textbook form. In the final chapter, Daniels reflects briefly on some critical questions about the future of service developments. Will service growth continue, after the 1980s ‘decade of optimism’? Recent setbacks and doubts are reviewed, although there is no mention of the Thurow thesis that many service developments then were based on ‘one-off’ events. Are service-dominated economies desirable? I think he suggests that this is the wrong question to ask. Is service globalization inevitable? Probably only for very specific financial and information functions. What is the remaining potential of telecommunications to replace human mobility? Considerable, for example through video-conferencing and teleworking. but again constrained by organizational and social influences. The main theme that Daniels seeks to demonstrate is the growing ‘tradability’ of activities traditionally seen as dominated by local exchange, and which still depend so much on direct contacts between producer and consumer. The evidence that he presents for the growing global significance of service functions certainly provides ammunition to counter their past neglect, and an accessible student introduction to these issues. His selection and organization of material is not always convincing, however, and
the book lacks conceptual coherence with regard to some important aspects of the economic role of services. The author might well argue, as he has in the past, that such incoherence is inherent in service studies. New perspectives on the very nature of modern economies, especially arising from changing patterns of sectoral and geographical interdependence, have nevertheless been encouraged by modern service analysis. These have affected our view of many of both production aspects and consumption changes, including the nature of comparative advantage, and thus the bases of service competition and trade. Peter Wood Department of Geography, University College London, UK
The Future of Transportation and Communication: Visions and Perspectives from Europe, Japan and the USA
Roland Thord (ed) Springer Verlag, Berlin (1993) 265 pp DM 128 ISBN 3 530 56377 6
This book is a collection of 16 papers presented at a conference sponsored by the Swedish National Road Administration. As the book’s subtitle suggests, it offers a diversity of perspectives on the subject. The diversity is accomplished not only by the geographical background from which the authors come, but also by the balance between academics and representatives of various government agencies. While one could argue that a discussion of the future of transportation and communications (T&C) could benefit from contributions from industry as well. I find the editor’s decision not to focus on the pure technological aspects a wise one. A brief and useful review of the technological is provided by aspects Forsberg in the concluding article of the book. There are two ‘tests’ to which a book of this genre can be submitted. First and foremost, does the reader learn about the subject that is offered by the book title? In this case. the test of each 197
The issue of commitment, perception and interpretation is discussed, again based on survey results in the UK. In this respect, the UK heritage visitor might be different from the average heritage visitor, taking into account the longer tradition and the organizational structure of heritage conservation (eg membership of the National Trust). The results that reveal tourist satisfaction with on-site and off-site presentational media are most useful in view of new developments and projects (Chapter 9). In an era that emphasizes customer satisfaction, the importance that visitors attach to the different media is an important of failure or success. indicator Comments on this issue are based on the analysis of self-rated attention paid by tourists to the different media types. The author concludes that the starting point for evaluating the effectiveness of promotional media at heritage attractions should be the recognition that many tourists are only generally interested in a particular site. and that measures of satisfaction are of little analytical use other than for managerial purposes. The inclusion of Chapter 10. dealing with the learning process of the tourist and the benefits that tourists gain from their visit to a heritage attraction, informs the reader about some methodological problems, and goes into considerable detail about the questionnaire and the answers, but lacks a more general interpretation or relevance to a broader discussion. The final chapter attempts a marketing approach to the different described analysed issues and before, which is intended to set the heritage product in a wider context of the tourism market. The recommendations for marketing and management of historical heritage sites are not the strongest side of this book. Despite some critical notes in the comment, this publication above surely holds some major merits. In the 196
first place there is the way in which the author systematically reveals the complex relationship between heritage and tourism. In each aspect of this analysis he indicates his views on priorities for the future research agenda, which is a perfect way to make a balance of the ‘state of the art’ in this field of tourism research: lack of knowledge about the benefits as experienced by the tourist when visiting a heritage site, on the one hand, and on the other hand the effectiveness of the different marketing instruments. The most important merit of this publication and therefore recommendation to read it is its function as a source of inspiration and reference for many researchers now exploring this so-called new area of interest in tourism. Myriam Jansen-Verbeke Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Service Industries Economy
in
the
World
P W Daniels Blackwell, Oxford (1993) 210 pp f11.99 ISBN 0 63117703 5
Peter Daniels’ latest book is one of a series sponsored by the Institute of British Geographers to provide undergraduate texts that critically summarize developments in various fields of geography. It is timely in two ways. First, although studies of services increasingly feature in courses on economic geography, as well as in economics, planning and business studies, we still lack accessible summary texts that address the diversity of service functions. Also, even for services it has become evident over the past decade that the global context of change needs to be clearly understood. This book is, perhaps inevitably, less satisfactory in fulfilling the first of these needs than the second, which is its special focus. With the exception of two short excursions into retail internationalization and changing international consumer service requirements and expectations, there is little explicit treatment of consumer or public
services and, more surprisingly, none of tourism. The approach is basically empirical, offering a commentary on measurable trends and observed corporate activity in the service sector. This creates some problems, not simply because of widely acknowledged service data difficulties, but also as a consequence of the predominantly service ‘production’ perspective that emerges. Although he reviews a range of literature, Daniels is also indecisive, and sometimes contradictory, in presenting alternative conceptual approaches to service analysis. For example, should students really still be encouraged to believe that there is a separately definable service sector? Sector/stage theories are rehearsed in Chapter 1, with their limitations, but alternative perspectives (Castells. Cohen and Zysman) are mentioned only in passing. Nevertheless, in the final chapter, where the merits of socalled ‘service-dominated economies’ are discussed, he emphasizes the close of services with interdependence other sectors. Nowhere, however, is a clear summary presented of the significance for service employment growth of wider processes affecting the division of labour, as argued for example by Sayer and Walker. A similar indecisiveness affects the treatment of the relationship between service productivity and employment change. Daniels generally seems to favour low-productivity explanations for service growth compared with manufacturing (especially in dealing with international competitiveness on p 173) and only briefly mentions the many doubts and qualifications expressed about them. More should have been said about: (1)
(2)
(3)
the diversity of service productivity experience (ranging, in Baumol’s terms, from ‘stagnant’ labour-intensive to ‘progressive’ capital-intensive services); widespread failure to the measure the quality, and therefore the value to recipients, of many services; and, especially the dependence of productivity improvements in manufacturing on more labour-intensive service inputs.
Book reviews
I suspect that Dorothy Riddle, whose much quoted arguments are elsewhere, would not approve of this neglect of the real productivity contribution of services. These debates, both of which are about the role of service functions in relation to other activities, are important for students to understand if they are to move their thinking beyond the conventional obsession with services versus manufacturing activities, and with activity classifications that are universally condemned as inadequate. These dissatisfactions arise largely from Chapter 1, a collection of ‘factual and theoretical perspectives’. although by their nature they pervade the rest of the book. Its positive qualities emerge more clearly later, as the focus shifts to international trade, mainly in financial and business services, and its implications for urban development. The approach nevertheless remains somewhat episodic, summarizing diverse, mainly empirical material. Chapter 2 perhaps suffers most from this disjointedness, reviewing the causes for growing service tradability. There are summary discussions of relevant developments in information technology. transportation, and service multinationals, including three UK case studies. Some attempt is made at general explanation, based on Dunning’s eclectic approach. and Vandermerwe and Chadwick’s analysis of modes of international service delivery. The most useful section here is on government influences on service trade. and barriers to it, exemplified by the Single Market proposals for the European Community. and the 1988 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. Chapter 3 is the core of this part of the book. on ‘International trade and foreign direct investment in services’. This is detailed and informative, outlining patterns and trends in service trade, including measurement problems. and the nature of service Parallel comparative advantage. developments in service FDI are also reviewed. After some discussion of the implications for developing countries and Eastern Europe/former CIS. there is a concise but clear summary of the issues faced by the
GATT in liberalizing global service trade. The last two substantive chapters bring information together on the significance of international service exchange for the global urban system. Why do high-level services concentrate in, and define world cities? In particular, what have been the key developments in the financial service sector? Then attention is directed to consequent changes in the internal structures of these cities, including employment patterns, urban property markets, and changing patterns of service location. Although drawing on a range of examples, the most detailed discussion is based on London, including the problems of the Docklands Canary Wharf development. Much of this material is already quite accessible. but it is valuable for students to have preliminary access to it in textbook form. In the final chapter, Daniels reflects briefly on some critical questions about the future of service developments. Will service growth continue, after the 1980s ‘decade of optimism’? Recent setbacks and doubts are reviewed, although there is no mention of the Thurow thesis that many service developments then were based on ‘one-off’ events. Are service-dominated economies desirable? I think he suggests that this is the wrong question to ask. Is service globalization inevitable? Probably only for very specific financial and information functions. What is the remaining potential of telecommunications to replace human mobility? Considerable, for example through video-conferencing and teleworking. but again constrained by organizational and social influences. The main theme that Daniels seeks to demonstrate is the growing ‘tradability’ of activities traditionally seen as dominated by local exchange, and which still depend so much on direct contacts between producer and consumer. The evidence that he presents for the growing global significance of service functions certainly provides ammunition to counter their past neglect, and an accessible student introduction to these issues. His selection and organization of material is not always convincing, however, and
the book lacks conceptual coherence with regard to some important aspects of the economic role of services. The author might well argue, as he has in the past, that such incoherence is inherent in service studies. New perspectives on the very nature of modern economies, especially arising from changing patterns of sectoral and geographical interdependence, have nevertheless been encouraged by modern service analysis. These have affected our view of many of both production aspects and consumption changes, including the nature of comparative advantage, and thus the bases of service competition and trade. Peter Wood Department of Geography, University College London, UK
The Future of Transportation and Communication: Visions and Perspectives from Europe, Japan and the USA
Roland Thord (ed) Springer Verlag, Berlin (1993) 265 pp DM 128 ISBN 3 530 56377 6
This book is a collection of 16 papers presented at a conference sponsored by the Swedish National Road Administration. As the book’s subtitle suggests, it offers a diversity of perspectives on the subject. The diversity is accomplished not only by the geographical background from which the authors come, but also by the balance between academics and representatives of various government agencies. While one could argue that a discussion of the future of transportation and communications (T&C) could benefit from contributions from industry as well. I find the editor’s decision not to focus on the pure technological aspects a wise one. A brief and useful review of the technological is provided by aspects Forsberg in the concluding article of the book. There are two ‘tests’ to which a book of this genre can be submitted. First and foremost, does the reader learn about the subject that is offered by the book title? In this case. the test of each 197