Services in Switzerland: Structure, Performance, and Implications of European Economic Integration

ISBN-13: 9783540572862 / Angielski / Miękka / 1993 / 276 str.

Peter Zweifel

Opis

by RolfM. Jeker, Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs Services have only quite recently become an important issue in foreign economic policy and particularly in international trade negotiations. Trade policy was traditionally perceived to deal almost exclusively with exports and imports of goods. The increasing importance of services both nationally and internationally is, mainly, due to the gains in agricultural and industrial productiv ity (freeing resources for services activities), and the progress in communication technology, facilitating trade in invisibles. Notable examples of contractual and legal frameworks for services in international trade relations are the internal market program of the European Community extended by the Agreement on the European Economic Are. a (EEA) to EFTA countries, the multi lateral Uruguay-Round negotiations under the auspices of the GATT on a General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico. This trend is of particular significance to Switzerland, a country where services contribute about 65% to the value added of the economy, a share which will probably still increase somewhat. Ser vices also contribute to an important extent to the traditional surplus in the current account of the Swiss balance of payments. Switzerland clearly has comparative advantages in the field of ser vices, as is well demonstrated by its long and successful tradition in key services sectors like banking, insurance, tourism, consulting and engineering."

Spis treści

0. Overview and synthesis.- 0.0. Theoretical considerations.- 0.1. Regulatory framework.- 0.2. Structure and development of the service sector in Switzerland.- 0.3. Future changes induced by European economic integration.- 0.4. Outlook.- 0.5. References.- A. Theoretical appendix to chapter 0.- A.0. The new theory of demand as the frame of reference.- A.1. Application to construction.- A.2. Application to telecommunications.- A.3. Application to road transport.- A.4. Application to retail trade.- A.5. Application to banking.- A.6. Application to insurance.- A.7. Application to tourism.- A.8. Application to management consultancy.- A.9. References to theoretical appendix.- 1. Construction.- 1.1. The regulatory framework since 1980.- 1.2. Structural development of the Swiss construction sector.- 1.3. The technical efficiency of Swiss construction firms.- 1.4. Conclusion.- 1.5. References.- 1.6. Appendix to chapter 1: The data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to technical efficiency.- 2. Telecommunications services.- 2.1. The regulatory framework since 1980.- 2.2. Structural development of the Swiss telecommunications industry.- 2.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 2.4. Outlook.- 2.5. References.- 3 Road transport.- 3.0. Introductory remarks.- 3.1. The regulatory framework for road transport since 1980.- 3.2. Structure and development of the road transport sector in Switzerland.- 3.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 3.4. Outlook.- 3.5. References.- 4. Retail trade.- 4.0. Introductory remarks.- 4.1. The legislative framework relevant to retail trade.- 4.2. Structure and development of Swiss retail trade.- 4.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 4.4. Internationalization.- 4.5. Concluding remarks.- 4.6. References.- 5. Banking.- 5.0. Introduction.- 5.1. The regulatory framework since 1980.- 5.2. Structure, development, and performance of the Swiss banking industry.- 5.3. Future changes induced by European economic integration.- 5.4. Concluding remarks.- 5.5. References.- 6. Insurance.- 6.1. The regulatory framework since 1980.- 6.2. Structure and development of the Swiss insurance industry.- 6.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 6.4. Outlook.- 6.5. References.- 7. Tourism.- 7.0. Introductory remarks.- 7.1. The regulatory framework since 1980.- 7.2. Structure and development of tourism - related services.- 7.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 7.4. Outlook.- 7.5. References.- 8. Management and engineering consultancy.- 8.0. Introductory remarks.- 8.1. The regulatory framework since 1980 in Switzerland.- 8.2. Structure and development of the Swiss management and engineering consultancy industries.- 8.3. Future changes induced by participation in European economic integration.- 8.4. Outlook.- 8.5. References.- 9. Epilogue: Implications for Swiss foreign economic policy.- 9.1 Switzerland as a services economy.- 9.2 Increasing importance of services for economic development and trade.- 9.3 Difficulties of liberalizing trade in services.- 9.4 Emerging patterns in international trade negotiations.- 9.5 Services and Swiss foreign economic policy.- Appendix: List of indicators.- List of contributors.