The paper examines the role of service inputs in shaping the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. It first estimates an export market share function of 18 manufacturing industries for 16 OECD countries over the period 1995 to 2000. The service linkage variables are derived from Input...

The competitiveness of firms in open economies is increasingly determined by access to low-cost and high-quality producer services - telecommunications, transport and distribution services, financial intermediation, etc. This paper discusses the role of services in economic growth, focusing in...