西方地理学视角下的生产性服务贸易研究进展

服务业已成为国际贸易中发展最快的部门之一,生产性服务业作为其中最具有贸易可能的部门,已引起了西方地理学界的关注。本文试图基于地理学的视角,从区别于国际贸易学的角度对西方学者在生产性服务贸易的概念、产生、开展、影响,以及研究的方法等方面的内容所做研究进行述评,进而提出生产性服务贸易研究中值得进一步探讨的问题。

PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHICAL STUDIES ON PRODUCER SERVICE TRADE IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES

The trade in the service industries developed very fast in the past two decades. As the part of service industries which are most tradable, the producer service interests not only the international trade researchers, but also the geographers. Based on the literature review, the main points of the definition, causing, expanding, influence and the approach on the researches of producer services trade are put forward in this paper. From the view point of geography, the producer service trade is not only the service flow across the boarder of the countries, but also the flow between the regions within one country. And the producer service trade is regarded as the flow of an immateriality factor which belongs to the basic economic activity. The qualifications that ensure the service flow, the form and the ways of the service flow, the environment of the destination, and the factor affected the service flow are the main content in the geographical studies. That is different from the goods trade and the international trade. As to the role of the producer service trade, the attention is mainly paid to two aspects at present. One is about the role of the producer service to the exporting cities as basic economic activities; the other is about the effect to the urban system by the producer service trade. And it is found that the geographical researches on the producer service trade could be taken from its impact on the urban system. Compared with the studies on the location and the role to regional development, the study on producer service trade is still limited in the geographical circle. There are two reasons: firstly, the research data for the producer service trade could not relied on the data of employment and value of the industry, but on the survey of enterprises; secondly, the sum of producer service trade is hard to be measured. So the new method is necessary for the trade study. Finally, based on the review, the paper put forward three points for the future study. Firstly, set up the flow system of the producer service trade according to its immateriality feature; secondly, rethink the central place theory because the producer service exporting may be different from the traditional service industries; thirdly, set up the geographical study system of the producer service trade which is different from the view of the international trade.