| Abstract: | Conclusions The analyses show that a significant “services gap” does not exist between west Germany and the USA. Such a gap is not even
evident in the area of low-skill service activities, such as in catering, once the marginal employment relations — the importance
of which is understated by the official statistics — are included.
This finding invalidates the empirical basis for economic policy proposals for an expansion of employment in service branches
as a way out of the employment crisis. It is evident that a solution to Germany's current employment problems can only be
found in a strategy that increases the scope for employment at the macro-economic level, i.e. irrespective of sectoral developments
and whatever the implications of this for the distribution of the various types of activity. Having said this, the heavy bias
in the output structure of the German economy in favour of industrial output suggests that an additional employment potential
does exist in services, especially personal services. |
