Fernandes, Ana M.2012-06-062012-06-062007-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7345This paper examines the structure and performance of the services sector in Eastern European and Central Asian countries during 1997-2004. Services represent an increasing share of total value added and employment with the major sub-sectors being wholesale trade, retail trade, inland transport, telecommunications, and real estate activities. A clear divide separates EU-5 countries from South Eastern European countries and Ukraine in terms of services labor productivity. Although a large gap in productivity also separates EU-8 countries from EU-15 countries, that gap was reduced from 1997 to 2004 as most services sub-sectors experienced fast productivity growth. High skill intensive sub-sectors and information and communications technology producers and users have exhibited higher productivity levels and growth rates relative to other sub-sectors since 2000. The author finds a positive effect of services liberalization on the productivity growth of services sub-sectors. The author also finds a positive and significant effect of services liberalization in both finance and infrastructure on the productivity of downstream manufacturing.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTINGADVERTISINGAGGREGATE PRODUCTIVITYAIRAIR TRANSPORTAVERAGE PRODUCTIVITYBACKBONEBARRIERS TO ENTRYBENCHMARKBENCHMARKINGBENCHMARKSBUSINESS ACTIVITIESBUSINESS CYCLEBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCENTRAL ASIANCOMMODITYCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGYCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMER DEMANDDATA LIMITATIONSDEFLATIONDEFLATORSDEREGULATIONDRIVERSECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMICSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTSELECTRICITYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT SHAREEQUIPMENTEXCHANGE RATESEXPORTSFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SERVICESFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFUELFUND MANAGEMENTFUTURE RESEARCHGDPGLOBAL MARKETSGROSS VALUEGROWTH RATEHARDWAREHUMAN CAPITALICTINCOMEINLAND TRANSPORTINNOVATIONINSTITUTIONINSURANCEINTEREST RATEINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSINTERNATIONAL TRADELABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHLEGAL ENVIRONMENTMANUFACTURINGMONETARY POLICIESMOTOR VEHICLESNETWORKSNEW TECHNOLOGIESPRICE LEVELSPRODUCT MARKETPRODUCT MARKET REGULATIONPRODUCTION COSTSPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTIVE FIRMSPRODUCTIVITY GAINSPRODUCTIVITY GAPPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPRODUCTIVITY GROWTH RATESPRODUCTIVITY INCREASEPRODUCTIVITY LEVELSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPURCHASING POWERR&DREGRESSION ANALYSISREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRESULTRESULTSRETAIL TRADEROADROAD TRANSPORTROADSSANITATIONSERVICE INDUSTRIESSKILLED LABORSKILLED WORKERSSKILLS DEVELOPMENTSUPERVISIONTAXONOMIESTAXONOMYTECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONSTELECOMTELECOMMUNICATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTOTAL EMPLOYMENTTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRANSITION ECONOMIESTRANSPORT ACTIVITIESUSE VALUEUSERUSERSVALUE ADDEDVALUE OF OUTPUTWEALTHWEBWORKFORCE SKILLSWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4357