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Services Sector Trade and Investment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2018) | Viewed by 32108

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

International trade in services leads to expansion of the services sector. Growth of the services sector is now well-recognised as a new driver for economic growth. A broad definition of the services sector will be considered, which includes cultural goods, education, financial services, labour services, outsourcing and real-estate. Both theoretical and empirical manuscripts on different aspects of services sector trade and investment are welcome. Both micro- and macro-level studies on individual countries and groups of countries are welcome. However, all manuscripts must have a sustainability angle and policy implications. All submitted manuscripts will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide-reaching dissemination of research results.

We invite high quality original manuscripts for possible publication in this Special Issue of Sustainability. Please note that the list of keywords is not exhaustive.

Prof. Dr. Sajid Anwar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Services sector trade
  • Trade and investment in arts and cultural goods
  • International capital mobility
  • International labour mobility
  • International outsourcing
  • International factor mobility and wage inequality
  • International factor mobility and environment
  • Determinants of investment in the services sector
  • Return on international investment in the services sector
  • International investment in commercial and residential real-estate

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 484 KiB  
Article
FDI and International Knowledge Diffusion: An Examination of the Evolution of Comparative Advantage
by Zhaobin Fan, Hui Li and Lin Pan
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030581 - 22 Jan 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2919
Abstract
This paper investigates the role of FDI in international knowledge diffusion with a focus on the evolution of the comparative advantage of FDI-host and FDI-source countries. We use data on 99 countries, which leads to 876 country pairs, over the 2001 to 2012 [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the role of FDI in international knowledge diffusion with a focus on the evolution of the comparative advantage of FDI-host and FDI-source countries. We use data on 99 countries, which leads to 876 country pairs, over the 2001 to 2012 period. Spatial autoregressive (SAR) models are used to investigate the impact of bilateral FDI on the similarity of the comparative advantage between the host and source countries. Empirical results show that the effect of the bilateral FDI on the evolution of the comparative advantage of the host and source countries is statistically significant. Specifically, the larger the scale of bilateral FDI, the more similar the comparative advantage between the host and source countries becomes. We also find that the impact of FDI on international knowledge diffusion is heterogeneous across country pairs and this effect varies across the development gap between the source and host countries. In the case of countries that are not very different in terms of their level of economic development, bilateral FDI has a relatively more significant effect on the similarity of the comparative advantage between countries. Moreover, we find that the similarity of the comparative advantage is spatially correlated, and FDI linkages between country pairs strengthen the spatial correlations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Services Sector Trade and Investment)
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20 pages, 431 KiB  
Article
Montenegro’s Road to Sustainable Tourism Growth and Innovation
by Julija Cerović Smolović, Sanja Janketić, Danijela Jaćimović, Maja Bučar and Metka Stare
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4687; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124687 - 10 Dec 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7188
Abstract
Tourism is the most important export sector in Montenegro, with a share of 22% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a strong tendency toward growth. Tourism revenues contribute substantially to both the current account balance and employment. However, the current level [...] Read more.
Tourism is the most important export sector in Montenegro, with a share of 22% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a strong tendency toward growth. Tourism revenues contribute substantially to both the current account balance and employment. However, the current level of the tourist sector suffers from serious limitations. The switch from the current approach to tourism in Montenegro to a more sustainable tourism is only possible by becoming more innovative. Highlighting the importance of innovation in all its forms has been the motivation for our research. The application of the organizational, marketing, and design innovations of the Montenegrin tourism industry actors was examined in a survey, based on the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), with some necessary adaptations. The sample covered more than 70% of available tourism actors. The authors also analysed the experience from Slovenia, in particular the Slovenian example of the Bank of Tourism Potentials, finding this innovation potentially suitable for transfer to Montenegro. Based on the survey and analysis, the team designed certain recommendations for policy action that can be used as guidelines for policy makers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Services Sector Trade and Investment)
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17 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Efficiency in Selected Areas of Public Services in European Union Countries
by Martina Halaskova, Renata Halaskova and Viktor Prokop
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4592; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124592 - 5 Dec 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3592
Abstract
Over the past 40 years, the service sector has become the dominant area of market economies. The public sector and services financed from public financing represent a specific group within the services sector. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of EU countries [...] Read more.
Over the past 40 years, the service sector has become the dominant area of market economies. The public sector and services financed from public financing represent a specific group within the services sector. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of EU countries and find the extent to which the volume of public services (and the respective financial allocations) can have an impact on selected economic indicators. To this end, the efficiency of public expenditure in five areas of public services (general public services; health; education; social protection; and recreation, culture, and religion) in 2009 and 2016 was evaluated in relation to selected economic indicators (GDP per capita and employment in services). In addition, the efficiency of public expenditure in EU countries was evaluated in relation to the size of the public sector and traditions of public administration. For cross-country analyses within the 27 European countries, data envelopment analysis and the input-oriented variable returns to scale (VRS) model were applied. The results demonstrated that in 2009, 13 out of 27 countries were efficient as opposed to 2016, where only seven countries were efficient. In countries with bigger size of public sector, the efficiency of public expenditure on services was not established. However, there was a similarity in the efficiency of public expenditure on services between groups of EU countries regarding the tradition of public administration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Services Sector Trade and Investment)
19 pages, 1328 KiB  
Article
Services Sector Export in Europe
by Anatolijs Prohorovs and Marina Solesvik
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4574; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124574 - 4 Dec 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3182
Abstract
In this paper, we consider the changes that occurred in the service exports of thirty-eight European countries in the period of 2005–2016. We have found that the existing world trend related to the growth of service exports is also present in Europe. However, [...] Read more.
In this paper, we consider the changes that occurred in the service exports of thirty-eight European countries in the period of 2005–2016. We have found that the existing world trend related to the growth of service exports is also present in Europe. However, the trend of the service exports’ share growth in the general volume of export is not common for all European countries. We found that higher growth rates are observed in European countries with lower levels of GDP per capita. We also discovered the presence of a strong positive correlation between growth in service exports and GDP growth, as well as between growth in service exports and GDP per capita. We also found that there is a linear correlation between the growth of service exports and the growth of GDP per capita, as well as between the growth in service exports and GDP growth. The data obtained allowed us to conclude that European countries, categorized as “Innovation Leaders” in accordance with the European Innovation Scoreboard, are not the leading countries in Europe with regard to the rates of service export growth. We also discovered that service exports in Europe are less sensitive to adverse macroeconomic effects than goods exports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Services Sector Trade and Investment)
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28 pages, 999 KiB  
Article
Harmony in Diversity: Can the One Belt One Road Initiative Promote China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment?
by Lili Kang, Fei Peng, Yu Zhu and An Pan
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3264; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093264 - 12 Sep 2018
Cited by 69 | Viewed by 14280
Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative on China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) using a dataset of all host countries for the period of 2010–2015. The employed econometric technique combines a difference-in-differences estimator with matching techniques. [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the effect of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative on China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) using a dataset of all host countries for the period of 2010–2015. The employed econometric technique combines a difference-in-differences estimator with matching techniques. The results show that China’s OFDI in OBOR countries is about 40% higher than in non-OBOR countries. After the initiative, the OFDI from China increases by 46.2% in OBOR countries. However, after controlling for the heterogeneity across OBOR and non-OBOR countries using the matching approach, the significance of the increasing effect caused by the OBOR initiative disappears. We also find the OBOR initiative diminishes the resource-seeking motivation and improves the market-seeking motivation of China’s OFDI. Our results cast doubts on the infrastructure-led and institution-based strategy of the OBOR initiative, but support the boosting effect of the OBOR initiative on institutional cooperation and cultural convergence. Thus, the OBOR initiative is a sustainable continuation and development of the long tradition of economic, institutional, and cultural convergence with the OBOR countries, rather than a temporary policy shock. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Services Sector Trade and Investment)
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