On the ‘How Many Europes’ Debate: Varieties of Service Economies

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding through the ServPPIN project: The Contribution of Public and Private Services to European Growth and Welfare, and the Role of Public‐Private Innovation Networks, Socio‐Economic Sciences and Humanities Programme of the EU 7th Framework Programme.
This paper shapes and identifies the varieties and dynamics of service economies in the EU 25. By adopting a neo-Schumpeterian and evolutionary approach it contributes to enrich previous research dealing with national disparities from the perspective of services economic structures. Communalities across countries and time are detected and discussed at different levels of analysis. A wide set of models across the European region is found from an aggregated perspective. Moreover, the paper analyses the key dimensions explaining the different service models at sectoral level: structural change, knowledge and innovation, internationalisation and competition restrictions. The main result shows that structural composition of countries plays a prominent role, while heterogeneity is driven by dissimilarities in knowledge bases and innovative efforts across Europe.
Unión Europea. FP7
Depto. de Análisis Económico y Economía Cuantitativa
Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
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