The geography of advanced producer services in Europe

This monograph provides the first attempt at comparative national case studies examining the development and location of "advanced producer services' (APS). These are defined as complex, knowledge-intensive business services designed as direct inputs to firms. Typical examples include high technology engineering, communications consulting, human resource management, strategic marketing, financial portfolio advice and specialised legal advice. Individual chapters cover the UK, France, West Germany, the New German Lander, Austria, Nordic countries, Italy and Portugal. The role of transnational corporations in the growth of APS is separately considered. APS are of recent origin, have expanded rapidly in the last twenty years and are often embedded in the international economic system. As such they present the 13 contributors with considerable problems of analysis and interpretation. -Editors